High School Essay. Themes, Characters And Literary Devices

High School Essay
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Part 1
In this essay, I will discuss the themes, characters and literary devices of three short stories (The Tell-Tale Heart, The Story of an Hour, and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge). Published by Edgar Allan Poe in 1843, The Tell-Tale Heart is a short story that is relayed by an unnamed narrator who opts for different ways to convince us of the narrator’s sanity while talking about a murder that has been committed most recently. The three core themes of this story are Version of Reality, Mortality, and Time. It’s safe to say that Edgar Allan Poe's short story disrupts a version of reality. Sometimes it becomes difficult for us to admit anything, but this can never change the truth or reality. The story of a murder can be heard via words and via the writer’s version of reality. The theme of mortality is depicted because we actually know the name of the murderer; however, we are not able to understand his motives. The story of The Tell-Tale Heart is about the fear of death and suffuses with a sense of mourning and feelings of sadness. The structure of Time is fairly straightforward in the beginning. As the story moves on, it confuses and eludes us in a lot of ways. The main characters of The Tell-Tale Heart are an unnamed narrator and an old man. The literary device used in this story is Symbolism, as the narrator talks about a watch a couple of times, which is an auditory and visual representation of time.
On the other hand, The Story of an Hour was written by Kate Chopin in April 1894. This short story was published in Vogue in December 1894 and was then reprinted a number of times. The main character of this story is Louise Mallard, who finds it difficult to deal with the news of her husband’s death. She starts crying, and her sister, Josephine, tries to calm her down. The name of her husband is Brently Mallard. The literary device used in this short story is Metaphor. Using this device, the writer tries to convey the emotions and physical condition of Louise Mallard and illustrates the power of her epiphany. The theme of The Story of an Hour is Language and Communication, as we are told that telling someone about an incident or accident using friendly words is more important than what has actually happened. Kate Chopin shares her concerns regarding the language we frequently use to deliver our messages and the way we communicate with people around us.
Ambrose Bierce wrote An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge in 1890. It is considered one of the most popular and widely anthologized short stories in American literature. This story was first published in July 1890, by The San Francisco Examiner. ...