Literary Devices In Edgar Allan Poe

“Poe has been called the evil genius of American literature” (Burt) Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most famous poets and storytellers in America’s history. Poe shows prime examples of most of the literary devices. His creations have opened our eyes in so many aspects. Literature is a system of complex words and uses certain methods and devices to construct the beauty and wholeness of a poem, story, or any writing of that matter.

On January 19, 1809, Edgar Poe was born in Boston. His parents were David and Elizabeth Poe. Edger had one brother and one sister. Their names were Henry and Rosalie. Elizabeth separated from David after Edger was born and took her three children with her. Unfortunately, Elizabeth Poe died in 1811, 2 years after the

Right next to the establishment of storytelling is the advancement of narrative elements like character, plot, and tone. As story telling developed over time, so too did the array and complexity of the methods obtainable to writers. Several of the elements that writers use are so vital that they are not essentially sensible choices such as tone or theme. (although the writer consciously assembles these examples). Other Methods, nonetheless, are more deliberate, like foreshadowing. Literary devices give a story or essay character. They show the true beauty of literature and what one sincerely needs to see and admire to understand the writing’s beauty. There are many of them but the few that will be talked about and explained are Alliteration, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Onomatopoeia, and Assonance. Edgar Allan Poe illustrates these devices in a divine way in his massively famous poem, The Raven.

Alliteration is one of the most common devices in poetry, especially Old English storytelling. Alliteration is seen when there is a recurrence of the identical sound at the beginning of the neighboring words. This device has been known to make it easy to memorize and retell stories throughout the generations. In the poem, The Raven, alliteration is seen like in the verse “While I pondered weak and weary.” (Poe) “Weak” and “weary” both have a “w” sound in the beginning, which gives the verse a repetition.

These characteristics can involve verbs of actions that only humans do or adjectives that portray a human condition. Personification gives a story more relatable qualities. These inanimate objects, forces of nature, or animals are seen as something more human which put the reader on a more emotional level. Poe expresses personification in The Raven in the verse “Quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore’.” (Poe) The Raven is speaking in this verse, which gives the bird a human quality. The reader sees the bird as something more important and something that is worth noticing instead of just a bird that doesn’t talk. Who would be interested in that?

Onomatopoeia is defined as a word that when spoken out loud, sounds like noises of for example an animal or the wind or even the rain. In The Raven, onomatopoeia is seen in the verse “...and so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door.” (Poe) The tapping that he is describing is showing the reader a better visualization of what is going on. The noise coming from the chamber door sounds like “tap tap tap.” This creates a whole different sense on the