By: Naomi Lashley
Author Background/Writing Style Connections
Born January 19, 1809, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. American short-story writer, poet, critic, and editor Edgar Allan Poe's tales of mystery and horror initiated the modern detective story, and the atmosphere in his tales of horror is unrivaled in American fiction. His The Raven (1845) numbers among the best-known poems in national literature.When Poe was old enough he went
to West point. He was excelling in his studies
but neglected his duties, so he was kicked out
of the school in when Poe went to Richmond in 1938
he developed a reputation as a cut-throat
critic. Ironically he was later harshly critisized
for some of his writings. Poe was very successful as a
writer.
Edgar Allan Poe's use of irony
"TRUE! --nervous --very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses --not destroyed --not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily --how calmly I can tell you the whole story."
"He shrieked once --once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done. But, for many minutes, the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me; it would not be heard through the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eve would trouble me no more.If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence. First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs."
"I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all between the scantlings. I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human eye --not even his --could have detected any thing wrong. There was nothing to wash out --no stain of any kind --no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary for that. A tub had caught all --ha! ha!"
"Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! here, here! --It is the beating of his hideous heart!"
Exerpt from A Tell-Tale Heart
The use of irony in A Tell-Tale Heart is that the narrator of the story was trying to say he was not a mad man all throughout the story when he is in an insane asylum.The other use of irony in the story is that he said he hid the body so cleverly, yet when the police came and they were about to leave he admitted to killing the man.
Poe uses irony in the poem to entertain. Irony adds to the excitement and anxiety of what is going to happen next throughout the poem.
to West point. He was excelling in his studies
but neglected his duties, so he was kicked out
of the school in when Poe went to Richmond in 1938
he developed a reputation as a cut-throat
critic. Ironically he was later harshly critisized
for some of his writings. Poe was very successful as a
writer.
Edgar Allan Poe's use of irony
"TRUE! --nervous --very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses --not destroyed --not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily --how calmly I can tell you the whole story."
"He shrieked once --once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done. But, for many minutes, the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me; it would not be heard through the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eve would trouble me no more.If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence. First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs."
"I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all between the scantlings. I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human eye --not even his --could have detected any thing wrong. There was nothing to wash out --no stain of any kind --no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary for that. A tub had caught all --ha! ha!"
"Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! here, here! --It is the beating of his hideous heart!"
Exerpt from A Tell-Tale Heart
The use of irony in A Tell-Tale Heart is that the narrator of the story was trying to say he was not a mad man all throughout the story when he is in an insane asylum.The other use of irony in the story is that he said he hid the body so cleverly, yet when the police came and they were about to leave he admitted to killing the man.
Poe uses irony in the poem to entertain. Irony adds to the excitement and anxiety of what is going to happen next throughout the poem.
Author Background/Writing Style Connections
Shel Silverstein was born on September 25, 1930, in Chicago. Silverstein studied music and established himself as a musician and composer, writing songs including “A Boy Named Sue,” popularized by Johnny Cash, and Loretta Lynn’s “One’s on the Way.” Silverstein also wrote children’s literature, including The Giving Tree and the poetry collection A Light in the Attic. He died in 1999.Silverstein started his career writing and drawing cartoons for playboy. Silverstein went from
playboy to writing and drawing cartoons
for children. It was followed the next year by four new
books. In an interview published in the Chicago Tribune in 1964, Shel talked about
the difficult time he had trying to get the book published.
Shel Siverstein's use of Irony
My dad gave me one dollar bill
‘Cause I’m his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
‘Cause two is more than one!
Excerpt from the poem smart.
In the poem Smart there is irony because the narrator said that his dad gave him a dollar because he is the smartest son ;he then traded it for two quarters because he thought two quarters was more than one dollar.
Shel Silverstien uses irony in his poems to add humor to them. By using irony Shel Silverstien creates
humor and entertains the reader by doing so.
http://prezi.com/rgrvgglpbrdi/edit/#19_30863873
Use the link to go to my prezi to see my opinion on who used irony better!
Use the link to go to my prezi to see my opinion on who used irony better!
""Smart" by Shel Silverstein." "Smart" by Shel Silverstein. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013
"Shel Silverstein Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
"Shel Silverstein Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
"Edgar Allan Poe Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.;
"The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe." The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
"The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe." The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.