Let's start with Edgar Allen Poe's two stories, "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Cask of Amontillado," just two of Poe's stories. As many of you know, I'm sure, he wrote a ton of great stories! In our discussion this week, we will focus on gothic elements and gothic themes, and symbolism (see links in Module "Week 5" for pdf of stories and links).
I'm including a very short You Tube bio here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lgg-pVjOok
Note that you do not want very lengthy posts (3 paragraphs or more): 1 paragraph (5-7sentences) is plenty for an initial post. Start posting early; and for those who post a little bit later, please do not repeat summaries of stories; others have done that before you and we don't need to hear the summaries again. Think about the stories, read what your classmates have said and respond to them; maybe what they wrote will raise another question and you might answer that.
I'll just add some very general thought-questions and, as always, you do not need to answer all of them:
Why kind of narrator do we have in both stories? Reliable? Unreliable? What evidence do we have to either claims?
What are some gothic elements and/or themes in both stories?
What is "symbolism" and how does it contribute to the significance on Poe's stories?
What is meant by the "tell-tale heart" the I-narrator hears at the end of the story by the same name?
What do you make of the I-narrator in "The Cask of Amontillado"?
Sample Solution