Terror in an individual's soul was one of the main themes of the writer's work, 19th century American poet, journalist and literary figure. critic Edgar Allan Poe. Inspired by the English Gothic novel, he attempted to depict the horrors and fears of human life. In his case, however, it is not external places that provoke these terrors; they came from the human core itself. He achieved this not only through the use of specific and lively vocabulary, but also through the length of the sentences in which these words appear. When reading his short stories, one will notice that long, descriptive sentences are sometimes followed by short ones, which makes the reader's heart beat faster and shiver with terror. In what cases and for what other reasons do these convictions appear? Some illuminating answers are offered by examples taken from Poe's short stories "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Tell-Tale Heart." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The two short stories selected have many things in common. The narrator is in any case unreliable and we don't know much about him. The narrator's condition of "The Tell-Tale Heart" resembles that of Roderick Usher, as they both claim to suffer from hypersensitivity, although that may just be their imagination at play. The narrator of "The Tell-Tale Heart" » killed a man and Roderick Usher somehow caused the death of his sister. Both stories also lead to grandiose and quite surprising finales, to which Poe directs us with the help of a gradation achieved using short sentences. “However, for a few more minutes, I refrained and remained still. But the blows were getting louder and louder! I thought my heart must burst. And then anxiety struck me – the noise would be heard by a neighbor! The old man's time had come! »[1] “Oh! Wither shall I fly? Won't she be there right away? Does she not hasten to reproach me for my haste? Did I not hear his step on the stairs?[2]These short sentences are put together to form a progression towards the climax of the story; they cause suspense in the reader and make them breathe faster. In a way, they also transfer the terror of the character in the story to the reader. Poe's short stories, however, don't just contain short sentences side by side. Quite often we can encounter one of the short sentences surrounded by sentences made up of longer clauses or several clauses, or both. This type of short sentence usually interrupts the descriptive part of the story and raises questions that are often difficult to answer, as these sentences tend to be quite ambiguous. Poe's stories are generally symbolic and often have multiple levels of meaning that lead to the borderlands of consciousness and madness.[3] These short sentences function as an escalation of the descriptive parts, giving the terror real form. [...] I spoke faster – with more vehemence; but the noise increased steadily. I stood up and discussed trifles, loudly and with violent gesticulations, but the noise steadily increased. Why should they not have left?[4] [...] Scarcely had these syllables passed my lips than – as if a bronze shield had indeed, at that moment, fallen heavily on a ground of 'silver – I became aware of a distinct reverberation, hollow, metallic and loud, but seemingly muffled., 2010.