Question 1 Edgar Allan Poe developed a theory of the construction of a tale. He wrote:
A skillful literary artist has constructed a tale. If wise, he has not fashioned his thoughts to accommodate his incidents; but having conceived, with deliberate care, a certain unique or single effect to be wrought out, he then invents such incidents – he then combines such events as may best aid him in establishing this preconceived effect. If his very initial sentence tend not to the out bringing of this effect, then he has failed in his first step. In the whole composition there should be no word written, of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one preestablished design.
Analyze Poe’s careful crafting of the works we studied. Keep his theory of the short story in mind – the idea that a story must have a “singular effect.” He carries this philosophy over to his poetry as well.
In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” what is the singular effect of this story?
How do the setting, characters, and plot all work together to carry this effect to the end?
Be sure to also include the purpose of the literature within the story (“The Haunted Palace” and the Ethelred story).
How does he craft “Annabel Lee” and “The Raven”? How do the elements of each poem work together to carry a “singular effect” to the end?
Question 2 Answer the following question in complete sentences. You should not merely answer in bullet style. Write a well-developed essay that incorporates all of the ideas in the question. The question is two-pronged.
First, discuss the idea of conformity vs. nonconformity in the works of Emerson and Thoreau. The focus of your essay should be the works that we studied by these authors. This is important. Give consideration to these things in your answer:
How the transcendentalists view man
Emerson’s concept of “man thinking” and a “foolish consistency”
what it means in their eyes to really be a “man” (think of Self-Reliance and the “different drummer” quote)
how society affects the individual
obstacles that keep a person from truly being himself
the general lesson about conformity that can be drawn from the path Thoreau wore between his house and the pond
how Thoreau defines true success
Though Whitman and Dickinson were quite different poets, both were greatly influenced by the transcendentalist movement.
In the second part of your essay, explain this transcendentalist influence in Whitman and Dickinson, using at least four of the poems listed in your discussion. Ask yourself, what “tenet” of transcendentalism does each one express?
