The Theme in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart"
Essay 2 GuidelinesEssay 2 Guidelines
For the second essay, you must choose one of the short stories from the folder in either Lesson 2 or Lesson 3 (**please do not choose the same story from Essay 1**).
Focus on theme, tone, symbol, or style.
This essay is ANALYTICAL. IT IS NOT A SUMMARY. Do not retell the story; assume your reader has read it. Check your calendar for due dates and due times!
Your essay mus t have these components:
(1) an introduction ,
(2) body ,
(3) conclusion ,
(4 ) thesis statement ,
(5 ) good development ,
(6 ) topic sentences, and
(7) transition words .
Your paper must be MLA format double-spaced, three full pages (about 900 words), and written in 12 point font. You must cite your main source (primary source), incorporate and cite 3 secondary sources from the library databases, and adhere to MLA style formatting.
- YOU MUST DO RESEARCH to aid you in writing this assignment, and you must use proper MLA documentation that accurately credits your sources.
-For this assignment, a secondary source is one that discusses or analyzes your chosen story. Many academic journals contain articles that discuss short stories. You must locate your secondary sources from the library databases (such as Gale Literary Databases, Academic Search Complete, Literature Resource Center, Gale Virtual Reference Library).
Secondary sources such as Shmoop, Cliff's Notes, SparkNotes, enotes.com, bookrags.com, 123helpme.com, Wiki anything, and exampleessays.com ARE UNACCEPTABLE. Your secondary source must come from an academic journal or published book from the GTC Library Databases.
NOTES AND REMINDERS:
If you submit an essay with plagiarized material, you will earn a 0 on the assignment, and for repeated offenses, dismissal from the course.
-Primary Source: The piece of literature you are analyzing is your primary source.
-Secondary Sources: The critical literary articles in academic journals found in the GTC Library databases are the secondary sources. You may use more than three secondary sources. Three (3) secondary sources is the minimum required for this assignment.
- Use MLA FORMAT (Times New Roman 12; double spaced; 1 inch margin; heading; header with last name page number inserted using header function, etc.).
- You must use quotations from both the literature selection you are analyzing AND from your 3 secondary sources (minimum). Use correct in-text formatting. Remember that quotations must connect to your words and cannot stand alone in the essay.
- When quoting from a story, your in text parenthetical citations use the author and page number in the parentheses.
GUIDELINES
Introduction (at least 5-6 sentences)
___Your introduction should be about five to six sentences long (including your thesis).
___Preferably, your thesis should have three clear points. You may have a two-point thesis, but you still need to have three body paragraphs.
___Mention the name of the author and the author’s work.
Body Paragraphs (at least 9-10 sentences)
A standard essay has three body paragraphs. YOU MUST ANALYZE SOMETHING!! DON’T SUMMARIZE!!
___Each body paragraph should start with a transition word and have a topic sentence. Most paragraphs are about nine-10 lines long.
___ All body paragraphs should have well-developed examples. Write precise, thorough examples to prove your thesis.
___Transition words (meanwhile, furthermore, therefore, finally, first, second, in conclusion)
___Topic sentences
___ You must have at least one in-text citation per body paragraph ( no more than two in-text citations per body paragraph, including blended or direct with signal phrases, quotation marks, and parentheticals).
Conclusion (at 5-6 sentences)
___Your conclusion should restate the main idea of your essay in an interesting way and wrap up the ideas presented in body.
Grammar and Mechanics
___ No glaring grammar mistakes (fragments, agreement issues, verb tense shifts, run-ons, comma splices, wordiness, awkward sentence structures, no comma errors or punctuation errors, misspelled, no grammar and mechanics related errors)
___ Mature vocabulary, diction, and syntax are evident.
___ Sentence structure shows control and some variety
Audience and Tone
___ Academic papers require the use of formal language.
___ Avoid slang language (no text message language).
___Use the third person point of view (he, she, one, a person, etc.), not the first person point of view (I), or the second person point of view (you).
Works Cited Page
___You must have a works cited page.
Professor Name
Course
Date
The Theme in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart"
Introduction
"The Tell-Tale Heart," a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, shows how an individual feels after a brutal murder. Through obsession, this story looks at how people think and feel. By looking closely at this theme, the narrator's mind is getting worse, and the story has a tense tone. This psychological story looks at shame, a moral feeling that comes from being hard on an individual. The narrator's assertion that they are not furious raises issues about their responsibility for the horrible deed they executed (Shamaila 600). The narrator's fixation with the older man's eye, which they call the "Evil Eye," drives them to do a horrible deed. This paper gives details of the obsession theme and the evil side of the human psyche, as seen in "The Tell-Tale Heart."
The theme of obsession
Edgar Allan Poe's short tale "The Tell-Tale Heart" centers on obsession. The narrator's insane obsession with the older man's eye explores this subject. The story's main idea is fascination, which is shown by how the narrator cannot stop thinking about the older man's vulture-like eye. His obsession with the eye makes him plan and carry out the murder (da Silva 17). This action shows how mentally unstable he is. "I think it was his eye!" is said over and over again to show how obsessed the storyteller is. "I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture- a pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold." The storyteller focuses on the older man's eye and describes it in great detail. This focus on the eye makes the narrator kill because such people think they can eliminate what makes them feel uncomfortable and afraid if they kill the vision. The quote emphasizes the theme of obsession by showing how the narrator is becoming increasingly obsessed with one part of the older man's look and how this obsession makes the narrator mentally unstable.
Some tale points that emphasize obsession are as follows: First is the fixation on the eye; the narrator obsesses with the old man's eye in Edgar Allan Poe's “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Understanding how this preoccupation drives him nuts is crucial: The older man's eye symbolizes the narrator's excessive obsession (Tangney and Dearing 113). The eye is "pale blue" with a "film over it," making it strange and disturbing, and the eye's appearance symbolizes the narrator's view of it as evil. The narrator hates the eye but cannot explain why, even though it has done him no harm. Obsession's irrationality shows how damaging it can be to consume ideas and emotions without reason. The story's vocabulary and structure show the narrator's preoccupation; he watches the old guy sleep night after night, focused just on the eye. The acute emphasis ...