The Fall of the House of Usher

Task: Choose one of Poe’s works that we have studied so far from “The Raven”, “The Pit and the Pendulum”, “The fall of the House of Usher” or “The Tell-Tale heart”

“Poe takes us on journeys into the supernatural and deepest recesses of the human mind. He explores places that many are afraid to tread, yet his audience is intrigued and fascinated by the dark places they are taken to”.

How is Poe an effective writer that engages his audience? Write a review/analysis of your chosen text explaining why you selected it as an example of effective writing. Examine the text’s subject matter and use examples to explain the way in which he transports us to a grotesque world that appeals to the darker human nature. Include themes, motifs, symbols and other literary techniques that make your chosen text stand out in appealing to you as the audience.

The fall of the House of Usher:

An unnamed character approaches the house of Roderick Usher, his childhood friend from many years ago when he was a young boy. He comes during a ‘dull, dark and soundless day’ in autumn and this comes to set the period of time in which this story takes place. I came to even view the transition from autumn to winter as something turning cold and chilly opposed to summer when the sun is out. For me this gave a sense of foreboding.

The narrator of the story describes the house as if something evil and alive; almost like a living person which may be impersonated as a hidden connection to the instability of Roderick Ushers mind. The narrator comes to observe the diseased atmosphere and decaying trees with murky ponds with perhaps a sense of doom and interest. ‘Which reeked up from the decayed trees and the fray wall, and the silent tarn’ for me really captured the image of what the narrator viewed in that moment he remained still as he surveyed the area.

Even though the house had been described as disintegrating in appearance with the ‘crumbling condition of the individual stone’ the...