Short Story essay final draft

Isra Syed

Barnes

+English 3

2 October 2012

    Edgar Allan Poe

The notorious dark romantic author Edgar Allan Poe has depicted himself as an unusual, yet pleasing writer that incorporates petrifying elements to add zest into his stories. Critics have asserted the idea that his disturbed attitude, depicted in his writings, are due to unfortunate events which stretch out throughout his life influencing his writings. Such an event took place around the time of his infancy where his family was torn apart due to the unfortunate death of his parents (Charles, N.P.). These conflicts greatly impacted Poe’s writing by forcing him to write using negative connotations and by perceiving the world as an atrocious environment for human development. This is illustrated amongst the several works he has contributed for society. Amid these works are the components of his style of writing and symbolism. Poe portrays the characters in his story as morally corrupt and he clearly expresses his general perception on the conflicts that overtake us in the world, thus illustrating that humans are insane and have a cynical behavior which leads to a demoralized society.
                Edgar Allan Poe demonstrates many essential styles of writing as he descriptively represents the characters by supporting the argument that humans are morally corrupt. For instance, in The Black Cat, Poe vividly enhances a new meaning behind the man by painting an illusion of how the man is kindhearted and compassionate by showing at first that he “ was especially fond of animals, and was indulged by [his] parents with a great variety of pets” (Poe, 59). This exposes the better side of the man by cleverly, at first showing that he is a good and normal man who adores animals and pleasures their accompaniment. As the story progresses, Poe surreptitiously gives indications that the man is losing all sense of consciousness and is forming into a new ghastly and malicious person. This is shown when we see that the man has taken up a new hobby of drinking alcohol which makes his attitude “more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others.”… “But my disease grew upon me –for what disease is like Alcohol!...” (Poe, 60). It is evident that Poe cleverly describes the transition from a gentle, animal-loving man into a new form of a monster that is engulfed in the intoxication of alcohol. This evolution of the man shows how people are susceptible to making wrong decisions that in the end cause them much suffering, consequently resulting in a more corrupt society. Through this style of writing, Poe uses his characters to illustrate how the attitude of contemptuous humans causes the destruction of humanity. Also, Poe vividly exposes the intensity of the certain conditions in which the man was compelled to brutally murder his cat. He describes the owner’s emotions when he expresses that he “…hung it because [he] knew that in doing so [he] was committing a sin-a deadly sin that would be so jeopardize [his] immortal soul as to place it- if such a thing were possible-even beyond the reach of the infinite mercy of the Most Merciful and Most Terrible God,” (Poe, 61). It is evident how the man has clearly admitted to obligating to a sin and soon after feels no remorse for his actions. The author emphatically describes the emotions running through the man’s mind as he is committing the horrible sin which represents how his insanity takes the better of him and his love and devotion he once had for the feline has vanished. It is seen that Poe, through describing his characters, creates a visual emphasizing the fact that people are bad with in the end leads to a corrupted society.

                In addition to demonstrating multiple writing techniques, Poe efficiently expresses various examples of symbolism throughout his works. For example, in the story “The Tell Tale Heart”, the heart takes the role of symbolizing the ignorance of the man by disregarding his fear of guilt for slaughtering the old man. As the heart continues to beat through the floor boards of the house, the man grows more anxious and anxiety-filled as he tries to advance with a normal life. “No doubt I now grew very pale; --but I talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice,” (Poe, N.P.). The man grows more impatient and this reveals how people, under guilt and pressure are definitely going to react in a more nerve-wrecking way compared to a state of tranquility. Yet, each beat of the heart reminds him of each moment contributed into killing the innocent old man and therefore, creates the build-up of guilt within his own heart. He “paced the floor to and fro with heavy stride, as if excited to fury by the observations of the men—but the noise steadily increased.” (Poe, N.P) In a continued manner, the man “foamed—[he] raved—[he] swore! [He] swung the chair upon which [he] had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder—louder—louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not?”(Poe, N.P.). The man is clearly showed as a man losing his temperament and sense of being as he is encompassed into the state of anger. Along with the heart, the black cat also is significant in showing symbolism in the story The Black Cat. For instance, the black feline is portrayed as “a remarkably large and beautiful animal, entirely black, and sagacious to an astonishing degree,” (Poe, 60). This alludes to the fact that Poe greatly emphasized on the beauty yet devilish appearance of the cat which represented its character of a friendly presence and also the cause of a great misfortune. Critics have argued that in this story, “Despite the narrator’s explicit claim of sanity in the story’s first paragraph, he immediately shows himself self-deceived by terming his story ‘a series of mere household events.’” (Prinsky, N.P.) This evidently expresses the man’s true insanity in believing that the dreadful that has been committed by his own hands is only a “series of mere household events” (Prinsky, N.P.) which means that he believes that this would happen in anyone’s home and it is a normal thing. We can see here how the man has no morals and completely proves himself to be crazy in having such a belief.  It is seen in society how the black cat is visualized as bad luck. It is clearly portrayed in this story as it seen that the man transforms into a horrible who murders the cat.  Throughout the stories, Poe shows how symbolism plays an affective role into representing humans as corrupt and demoralized. The black cat, seen as bad luck seems to transfer into the man’s life as he becomes more distraught and frustrated due to his alcoholic intoxications, therefore making him do a horrible sin by killing the cat. The heart, with each beat, makes the man realize how guilty he is and his approach on trying to disclose his fear of guilt.

                With his elements of writing techniques and the way he includes meaningful symbolism shows how Poe, in most of his works, represents the human as a person that has contributed to disheartening the society around him due to their disparaging behavior and their own ethical corruption.  Although Poe has faced many obstacles in his life which forced him to become such a dark romantic author, his works that have been displayed in society has brought much pleasure to the public.

                                                                               

                                                                                                Works Cited

May, Charles E. “Edgar Allan Poe.” Magill’S Survey Of American Literature, Revised Edition (2006): 1-10. MagillOnLiterature Plus. Web. 2 Oct. 2012.

Prinsky, Norman. “The Black Cat.” Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition (2004): 1-3. MagillOnLiterature Plus. Web. 3 Oct. 2012.

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Catcher in the Rye Timed Write

Isra Syed

Barnes

English 3

24 August 2012

                                                                       Timed Write

A member of the Nuevos Amigos organization solely relies on the student to respect themselves and others, to accept the diversity and views among others, and to optimistic about your new responsibility. In the book The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield can be viewed as someone who lacks the potential to be a member due to the fact that he doesn’t possess any of the true characteristics of a Nuevos Amigos participant. Holden should not be affiliated with the Nuevos Amigos group because of the absence of his acceptance towards others, his immature attitude. Yet he can be described as someone able to participate in the Nuevos Amigos program because of his care and consideration for children.
                Holden can not be able to participate in such a group as Nuevos Amigos because he sees everyone with flaws and he fails to accept their differences, which is an essential part of being a Nuevos Amigos. When Robert Ackley, the boy that roomed next to Holden appeared in front of his sight, he described him saying, “…he had a lot of pimples. Not just on his forehead or his chin, like most guys, but all over his whole face. And not only that, he had a terrible personality. He was also sort of a nasty guy,” (Salinger 26). Although in the end of the book he seems to admit that he actually missed this “nasty guy”, Holden is seen as someone who doesn’t care about the character of someone within; instead he judges them as what they look like. Describing Ackley’s physical appearance also shows how Holden somewhat views himself as better in appearance and attitude, which is actually the total opposite. Accepting and appreciating people’s differences would be hard for Holden to do in since he never seems to look deeper into a person and understand their true personality. And because Holden lacks this trait, it would be impossible for him to join into the Nuevos Amigos group because he would have to encounter many kids that would be of all different types of personalities and viewpoints.
                As well as being able to approve diversity among people’s personalities, being able to teach students about how to act and have a positive outlook on life can be difficult if you are a person who is always immature and insolent in behavior. Holden possesses this quality which can have a negative impact in the lives of arising high school students. When Holden arrived back at his hotel, he agreed to have a prostitute come up to his room. He apparently figured that “if she was a prostitute and all, I could get in some practice on her, in case I ever get married or anything,” (121). This quote directly displays Holden’s immature behavior and decisions that he makes. Being a Nuevos Amigos also advocates the importance of being responsible and being able to be a role model to younger kids. Holden obviously proves that he cannot be a true role model seeing that he asked for a prostitute to come to his room.  In addition, Holden also shows how he is not a liable candidate to take part in the program when he got into a fight with Stradlater. Even though Holden knew that calling Stradlater a “moron” really irritated him and he disliked being called that, Holden pursued this reckless behavior and repeatedly called him a moron. “He hated it when you called him a moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron,” (57).He represents a bad example to follow and knowing that children associated and enrolled in this program look forward to high school, they should not be given the example of such an irresponsible person. In a way, he promotes violence and sets a bad example to the children.
                Overlooking Holden’s bad examples, he could be recommended for Nuevos Amigos merely because he, in his own way, protects children from losing their innocence. In high school this is a key concern with kids because they can easily lose their vulnerability in their years at high school. For example, when Holden is asked by his littler sister Phoebe what he liked, he explained his desire to be the catcher in the rye. “Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around- nobody big, I mean- except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff -…,” (224). He expresses that even though he is immature and shares different views on people, he still has this element of protecting these children and having the longing to be able to save them if harm comes their way. Also, when he is visiting the school, he saw something that “drove [him] crazy. “Somebody’d written “Fuck you” on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy. I though Phoebe and all the other kids would see it, and how they’d wonder what the hell it meant,… and how they’d all think about it and maybe worry about it for a couple of days,” (260). Even though Holden utilizes vulgar in almost every one of his sentences, he understands that these kids are too young to be able to be exposed to horrible things like this. That is why he then “rubbed it out anyway, finally,” (261). In this way, Holden could be seen as someone that could be considered to be a part of the Nuevos Amigos program, and might be successful at it too.
                Therefore, a boy who himself has been expelled from high school can not really give good output on what it is like and what to expect. Holden’s negative views on the teachers and students really pushed him farther and farther from the desire to attain a good education. That is why he should not be a part of Nuevos Amigos because of his not being able to accept differences, his immature behavior and decisions, yet his soft side towards children should not be overlooked as well.