Mood and Madness

Edgar Allen Poe

What is Mood?

Mood is the atmosphere created by the setting, and actions of people and characters in it. It also relates to how the reader emotionally responds to these elements like sadness for a tragedy.

What ways can an author establish mood?

Why is it important to understand the mood when analyzing

literature?

What’s the Mood…?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4s9V8aQu4c

Tell Tale Heart

What’s the Mood…?

http://www.yourenglishclass.com/the-simpsons-raven/

Madness in Literature

The prevalence of depictions of madness in nineteenth-century literature paralleled the growth of the scientific and medical study of insanity. Increasingly in the nineteenth century, madness was seen more as a social and medical problem, compared to the eighteenth century, when madness was feared as the absence of reason, and therefore, evil.

Some authors attempted to portray mental "aberrations" in a realistic manner, while others sensationalized the symptoms of and reaction to a character's insanity. Such sensation fiction often portrayed characters who were wrongfully accused of insanity. The multitude of ways insanity was treated in literature reflects nineteenth-century society's fascination ﾑ bordering on obsession ﾑwith madness.

In fiction, there were two basic trends in the way madness was represented: authors strove either for psychological realism, or they sensationalized madness, using it as a tool to bring about a certain effect on characterization or plot.

Edgar Allan Poe's depictions of madness are well known. "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1840), focuses in particular on the way in which Poe uses the language and imagery of enclosure to follow the narrator on his journey from reason to insanity.

Journal

How does Poe establish Mood? How does the theme of Madness come into

play with Poe’s stories? Why are people fascinated by madness?

The Raven

The Raven

Read Aloud the Poem. Pay attention to mood and the diction Poe

uses to reinforce this: Dreary; Bleak; Ghost; Lost; Sorrow; Terrors; Darkness; Melancholy; Stern; Dirges; Grave; Stillness.

The Raven

Pick out some of the other word(s) in the poem that reinforce the feelings of bleakness and hopelessness.

The Raven1. What does Poe want the reader to believe

has happened to the narrator before events in the poem?

2. Why does Poe use a raven instead of another bird as the major symbol of this work?

3. The universal appeal of the poem comes from its expression of the feeling of loneliness we are all subject to at some time in our lives due to separation from loved ones. The narrator is feeling that his situation is inescapable and hopeless. IS there any feeling of hope at the conclusion of this narrative?

The Raven

4. What devices does Poe utilize in order to create suspense? Think of the repetition and rhyme. Is this effective? Explain.

BONUS: Recreate your own version of The Raven.

You must use the same rhyme scheme, meter, and mood as Poe.

The Pit and the Pendulum

The Pit and the Pendulum Summary: The narrator is sentenced to death by a tribunal during the

Spanish Inquisition. He faints. He awakes in a cell and is unable to see. As he awaits his fate, the prisoner undergoes physical and mental torment.

The Spanish Inquisition: The Inquisition sought to rid the church of heretical [sacrilegious or deviating] views. They got a little carried away.

The narrator decides to explore his surroundings by walking along the wall, leaving a coarse piece of cloth as a landmark. Before he is able to circumnavigate the cell, he trips on his robe and falls asleep. He wakes up, devours food left for him, and walks across the cell. He trips and realizes he narrowly missed falling into a pit. He falls asleep. He awakes. He eats. He falls asleep. He awakes and finds the cell dimly lit and that he's been tied to a wooden plank.

The Pit and the Pendulum Summary Cont.: A pendulum shaped like a scythe swings back and

forth above him, slowly making its way toward the prisoner. Meanwhile, rats have come up from the pit and eaten the prisoner's food. The prisoner rubs food on his ropes and seconds before the pendulum/scythe cuts him in half, the rats chew through the ropes and the narrator escapes.

The next torment involves the walls of the cell heating up and moving inward, forcing the narrator toward the pit. Moments before plummeting into the abyss, the walls retract. General LaSalle's army has emancipated the prison.

The Pit and the Pendulum Characters: Unnamed narrator -  A victim of the

Inquisition. The narrator maintains sanity that many of Poe’s other narrators lack. He functions with Dupin-like practicality despite the invisible enemy threatening him with torture.

General Lasalle -  A leader of the French army. General Lasalle is a real and positive presence of authority in contrast to the shadowy and invisible leaders of the Inquisition.

The Pit and the Pendulum Symbolism

Symbolism allows people to communicate beyond the limits of language. Humans use symbolism all the time. Words themselves are mere symbols for something else.

A symbol is a person, place, or object that stands for something beyond itself. National, religious, and cultural symbols have standard interpretations as well as a personal significance for each individual. For example, the American flag symbolizes the United States of America. The personal significance, however, varies. An army veteran cherishes its meaning. A terrorist, on the other hand, finds it despicable. A golden coloured coin with a loon on it symbolizes one dollar. A billionaire considers it chump change. A beggar considers it an elusive treasure.

A literary symbol gains its meaning from the context of a literary work and often changes as the work develops.

Write what the following symbol means universally and personally:

The Pit and the Pendulum Questions 1. Symbolism: Although the events in the story create

suspense and interest, its the story's deeper meaning that makes it so good. What do the following symbols represent:

the pit

the pendulum

the judges

2. Sensory Details: The description of rats on the narrator's lips is Poe at his finest. Poe's description of the cell, the pit, and the judges provide examples of sensory details. Explain how.

3. Suspense: Dangerous action, foreshadowing and pacing combine to keep readers on the edge of their seat. Provide an example of each.

4. Setting and Mood: Describe the setting and mood.

The Pit and the Pendulum Answers 1. Symbolism: Although the events in the story create

suspense and interest, its the story's deeper meaning that makes it so good. An analysis of the pit (death or hell), the scythe/pendulum (time and death), and the angelic forms of the Inquisitorial tribune (angels of death) are three of many symbols in the novel. The

2. Sensory Details: The description of rats on the narrator's lips is Poe at his finest. Poe's description of the cell, the pit, and the judges provide examples of sensory details.

3. Suspense: Dangerous action, foreshadowing and pacing combine to keep readers on the edge of their seat.

4. Setting and Mood: The cell and the pit take on a life of their own. The story's backdrop of the Inquisition adds to the ominous mood.

The Pit and the Pendulum Questions

5. Discuss why this narrator is considered unreliable.

6. Prove the following statement as true using textual references:

“’The Pit and the Pendulum’ is a traditional Poe story that breaks from Poe’s conventions: violent yet ultimately hopeful, graphic yet politically allusive.”

7. Poe claims that: “the ideal short story must be short enough to be read at a single sitting. Moreover, he argues that all elements of a work of fiction should be crafted toward a single, intense effect.” Discuss how he does this in “The Pit and the Pendulum”.

The Pit and the Pendulum Answers

5. Discuss why this narrator is considered unreliable. Narrator claims to lose the capacity of sensation during the swoon that opens the story. He thus highlights his own unreliability in ways that other narrators resist or deny.

6 – 7: Proof for statements.

The Pit and the Pendulum Film

Watch the 1961 Vincent Price version of the film.

Hand in: A T chart comparing Story and Film. Then…

Discuss: How the genre of HORROR has changed over time. Use examples from Poe and the notes you have received on madness, and the incidents of sensationalism in the 1961 film version.

The Pit and the Pendulum Film

Watch the video clip of the 1961 Vincent Price version of the film. Time: 1:08 – 1:18

Discuss: why the film is so different than the text. Think of aspects the film added such as the fight scene, the known enemy versus the unknown judges, a romantic element, and the ending.

The Pit and the Pendulum

Bonus Assignment:

Make a movie poster that includes a scene from the story and a list of actors who would be ideal for the role of narrator and Inquisitors. If you're really feeling creative, make a soundtrack to go along with your poster.

This must be presented in order to receive the bonus point on a chosen assignment.

The Fall of the House of Usher

The Fall of the House of Usher1. What mood does Poe create at the beginning of the story, and

how is that mood established?

2. Is there anything noteworthy about the description of Usher’s house?

3. How would you characterize Roderick Usher and his life? What does he consider to be the cause of his problems?

4. What is the narrator’s initial reaction to the sight of his friend Usher, and how does he feel about the prospect of cheering him up?

5. What is the nature of Usher’s art? Consider the significance of the painting described, as well as of the ballad “The Haunted Palace” in relation to the story as a whole.

6. Is there anything ironic about the narrator’s role in the story? Although he is Roderick’s most intimate boyhood friend, the narrator apparently does not know much about him—like the basic fact that Roderick has a twin sister.

7. Is there any significance to Roderick and Madeline being twins?

8. What do you think is the overall theme of the story?

The Fall of the House of Usher Use the Master Class 3 page handout on

Creating Atmosphere. Complete the steps on page one titled

“How to Write From Models”. Now, complete the 7 steps on page 3 of

“Write your own scene with vivid atmosphere”.

http://www.archive.org/details/FallOfTheHouseOfUsher1928short