The Missed Details. Reilly, John E. " The Lesser Death-Watch and The Tell-Tale Heart " Edgar Allan Poe

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1 Southammavong 1 Southammavong, Alen Buenning Eng April, 2016 The Missed Details Reilly, John E. " The Lesser Death-Watch and The Tell-Tale Heart " Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore. N.p., 18 Dec Web. 14 Apr The article offers a different question very much alluded through interpretation of the The Tell-Tale Heart. Though most articles/papers over the short story tend to focus on the theme and literary devices used, Reilly hones in on the acute detail of the senses. Reilly describes how the Narrator briefly mentions how the experience with the murder had had sharpened my senses not destroyed not dulled them. and uses this to expose the thought of why Poe had chosen to include this snippet of detail. The article targets the idea, that had the narrator actually been hallucinating and not really hearing things, why include the profound detail of the narrator's senses, Why include the development of segments displaying his senses at work? Reilly s article provided a different foresight with regards to better interpreting all the aspects and possibilities of The Tell-Tale Heart. The article offered a commonly overlooked item through its exposé. A brilliant display of drawing different conclusions to the story and its plethora of interpretations, it was a new idea that hadn t quite been touched on as often as others. I plan to use this article to aid in my paper exposing a thought many have overlooked and shot passed in the story.

2 Southammavong 2 Pritchard, Hollie. "Poe's THE TELL-TALE HEART." Spring2003, Vol. 61 Issue 3, P144. 4p. Explicator, n.d. Web. 14 Apr In this article, Pritchard dwells in the concept of sexuality and sadomasochism hidden within The Tell-Tale Heart. Pritchard explains the little quips that were used as sexual euphemisms to describe the true lustful intentions of the narrator. By going on to explain the sadomasochism was able to spawn as a result of the theory that sadists suffer from a fixed idea. Connecting the theory of fixed idea and for instance the eye, and thus the true intentions of the narrator. The article brings to light that the narrator was not crazy, just sexually repressed.. The Article presented a more ambitious argument that is slightly more avoided in discussions regarding The Tell-Tale Heart. Many people fall back on the more apparent idea of the Narrator s motive behind the murder. It was more refreshing to harken upon a more story-altering topic. The article brings an idea that many will disregard and contest the validity of, but through intriguing and creative argumentative points the idea is convincingly probable. I plan to use this article to argue in my paper that interpretation of anything is not in singularity. Rajan, Gita. "A Feminist Rereading of Poe's 'The Tell-Tale Heart'" Summer88, Vol. 24 Issue 3, P p. Papers on Language & Literature, 1 June Web. 14 Apr This article gives insight to the narrator of the story. It explains how readers are tricked into believing the narrator is a male through neutralized and unmarked generalization. Rajan explains how the speakings and verbal exploits in the story can only indicate a female, and that we just assume that the unknown narrator is a male through need of a generalized term and usage of he and his. Rajan hypothesizes how the story s theme and symbolism changes when

3 Southammavong 3 viewed through the different perspectives. How the symbol of the eye from the male perspective would represent death and judgement, but through the female perspective it would represent women trying to gain power in a male dominated society. Throughout the article, evidence imposing the thought that the narrator was a male slowly gets demerited as the validity and possibility of a female narrator become more apparent. The article was unique in approaching a different angle typically seen in The Tell-Tale Heart. Rajan opens the eyes of many readers by introducing a thought that may have never entered when in discussion of the story. She flips the quota and brings new symbolic parables that withhold all the connections of the story. Rajan is able to create an alternate reality to The Tell-Tale Heart by providing the insight into the psyché. I plan on using this article to help defend the idea of interpretation not being singular when identifying symbols in story, or about how perspectively changing one detail can give different meaning to the whole story. Witherington, Paul. "THE ACCOMPLICE IN 'THE TELL-TALE HEART'" Fall85, Vol. 22 Issue 4, P471. 5p. Studies in Short Fiction, 1 Sept Web. 14 Apr Witherington changes the status quo and drags in the reader and makes them an accomplice to the crime taking place in The Tell-Tale Heart. He draws the cue that the narrator is speaking to someone through the story; that person being the reader. As the story progresses scene by scene the narrator says things such as You should have seen and So you see with referencing that there is another entity taking participation. Through dragging the scenes, the narrator was able to tug on emotions of feeling sympathy for the old man, or giving thoughts

4 Southammavong 4 towards the narrators insanity and through referencing the emotions the reader might be experiencing, the narrator was able to have the reader feel more involved in the tale. This particular article describes a different take on The Tell-Tale Heart. Through exposing the thought of the reader being apart of the story, the reader is now able to draw a closer direct connection to the tale by indulging themselves as a character. The article describes the reader as an accomplice to the murder of the old man because the reader has been told and briefed act by act. The article provides a different approach that many whom interpret and analyze may oversee and look past. I plan to use this article as another to defend how perspectively viewing a detail can change the meaning of certain symbols. Wing-chi Ki, Magdalen. "EGO-EVIL AND "THE TELL-TALE HEART."" Fall2008, Vol. 61 Issue 1, P p. Renascence, 1 Sept Web. 14 Apr Wing-Chi Ki goes in depth about how Poe uses the Ego-Evil in The Tell-Tale Heart. Ego-Evil meaning the behavior motivated by selfish calculation and greed. Wing-Chi Ki explains that by displaying his own need before that of the old man, the narrator s Ego-Evil causes him the need to rid himself of the evil eye. She flags this notion as why the narrator is able to commit the murder. This article seemed to capture the rendition of The Tell-Tale Heart that most people seem to abide by. a simplistic route to cause and effect of the actions told in the story. Use of common logic and the normal cues of guilt and insanity. This is how many first time readers of the story would go about breaking down The Tell-Tale Heart as opposed to the more obscure renditions of the story that are out there for discussion. I plan on using this article as a reference

5 Southammavong 5 point of the normalites that people would normally coincide with as opposed to the other ideas/articles and renditions of the story.