The Tell - Tale heart by Edgar Allen Poe Essay Example for Free

The Tell Tale heart by Edgar Allen Poe Essay The Tell Tale heart by Edgar Allen Poe is set in a house belonging to an old man. Poe writes the story from the perspective of the murderer. This adds to the horror of the story. By continuously stressing that he is not mad the, Poe creates a situation where the tension and nervousness of the narrator is felt by the reader. This short story has lots of symbolism. To the narrator, the eye symbolizes evil; to the audience, the beating heart symbolizes a guilty conscience, and the man may even sybolise the dark side of the human race often connected with Gothic literature. The style and theme of the story is identical to that of Gothic Literature. The theme is based on a dark side of human nature found in everyone. This side is mostly hidden, but it can emerge when a person is pushed over the edge. Fear pushes them over the edge and towards the dark side. The narrator tells the story from his point of view but also speaks to the reader. Now at this point you fancy me mad. Though when reading the story it soon becomes clear that the reader is talking more to himself than t the reader, trying to first persuade himself that he is not mad. He tells of how he killed the old man because of his vulture eye. He cut him up and then put him under the floorboards of the house. This kind of writing about murder and death is a feature of Gothic literature, which was very poplar at the time. The vulture eye represents the mans fear. His dilemma between appearance and reality is also a theme of Gothic literature. For the man, the eye also symbolized evil. The line whenever it fell on me; my blood ran cold, infers that the man is gripped by irrational fear. He is not just afraid of the old mans eye, but more what it symbolised: Evil. This pushed him over the edge. I think the eye vexed him more because eyes are sometime seen as a window into the soul of the person. Poe uses retorical questions at the beginning to persuade the reader that he is not mad. How, then am I mad? This makes the reader wonder what the person has done that is so bad. Similarly, the pauses at the beginning not only build tension, but they also communicate the fact that it is very hard for him to relay these events. True! nervous very dreadfully nervous the narrator realises that what he did was wrong and therefore, finds it hard to talk about. He is probably admitting it to himself for the first time also. You can feel the tension in him voice and almost feel sorry for him. The narrator does not believe that his disease is madness; he believes that his senses have been sharpened. The narrator thought that killing the man was a just thing to do; the eye was evil and therefore, must be destroyed. He wanted to get rid of the vulture eyes power over him; he expected to bury the dark side. Thus rid myself of the eye forever. This suggests that he was not only driven by irrational fear but also hope that the eye along with the irrational fear might disappear. This illusion is also a convention of Gothic Literature. When you finish the story you are left to think about the possible meanings. One poses the ultimate burning retorical question of whether the man is mad or not, Madness being a theme of Gothic literature. The way he insists he is not suggests that he is hiding the truth, but if he were really mad then he would not suspect it. Maybe he is being truthful; he cant see why so many people think he is mad. The sound of the heart that no one else hears definitely infers that he is mad. Though the beating heart also sybolises his guilty conscience. It troubles him while the police are there. He starts to realise that what he did was wrong. But surely if he was mad he would have no conscience. He has become tangled up in the evil he hoped to get rid of. So the answer to the question is left up to you. Do you believe that every human has a dark side and that that this evil dark side is only revealed when the individual is pushed over the edge?

Dinner is Served :: Technology Food Papers

Dinner is Served I ran into the kitchen to perform some last minute preparations for the night’s joyous festivities. I could smell the inviting aroma of the freshly smoked salmon which I had smothered in a light cabernet sauce and topped with dill to complete the presentation. I must admit that I was quite nervous in regards to the night that lay ahead. I quickly set the table because dinner was to be served in fifteen minutes. I could see the look of anxiety on my face through the reflection of the recently polished silver and stemware. I decided that Ben and Bill would sit across the table from Tim and myself. I knew I was taking a chance inviting the three of them back to my home considering what had happened the last time, but I was in the mood to engage myself into some stimulating conversation. The doorbell rang as I was pouring the last of the Pinot Grigio and my nervousness quickly ceased the moment that I opened the door. I said a little prayer that the night would go smoot hly and proceeded to twist the doorknob, opening myself to the world of luddites and fetishists. Bill Henderson was the first to arrive. He walked into my house with his head held high and placed his cane next to his seat. Bill was in his late 60s and was sure to add his own spice into the dinner party. I asked to take his knee length, brown suede jacket but he looked at me and mumbled, â€Å"I think that I can do it myself. You do realize that I can sufficiently run my life without an absurd amount of help that others seem to need.† "I'm sorry." I said. "I just thought it might be easier for me to take it.""That seems to be the only thing that concerns you people these days! Why must everything be so easy? I actually enjoy taking my coat and putting it behind my chair like the good old days." His breath permeated the smell of aged whiskey throughout the dining room. I led him to his predetermined seat and pushed start on the CD Player. He reached for his glass of wine as Beethoven’s String Quartet in C sharp minor gently entered the room.

Ancient Egyptian Medicene

Ancient Egyptian Medicine Ancient Egyptians were an advanced culture especially in medical technology which includes; the books of medicine, treatments of disease and illness and the study of the body and its functions. Archeologists and Historians have learned about these people through papyri found mostly in tombs of great pharaohs and viziers. Unfortunately, there are not many completed texts so we lack information on many things including how they diagnosed illnesses. Our understanding on many of the aspects of Ancient Egyptian medicine comes from these incomplete but thorough papyri. The most famous book of medicine discovered is the Ebers Papyrus. The â€Å"medical papyri† as it is also known as is the oldest book ever discovered. It is 110 pages long and contains about 900 prescriptions recipes all dating back to 1500 B. C. E. Archeologists can only suspect that the Ebers Papyrus came from the tomb of a swnw (physician) at Thebes because tomb robbers never recorded where they took them from. The Edwin Smith Papyrus, named after their owner, contained information on healing bruises, cuts, and bones. Hearst Papyrus was found containing much of the same information as the Ebers but in Upper Egypt with a later date. This shows that the information was widespread and that teachings of one physician would travel. There was even more specific books like the Kahun papyrus from 1850 B. C. E. that seems to be a textbook of gynecology. Physicians used the books to find a remedy, dosage and quantity or medicine, disease which it should be used for and appropriate spell. Treatments for disease begun in the earlier times as exorcism like rituals. The disease was thought of as a demon that needed to be cleaned from the soul. The sick would wear amulets with gods on them to protect them and make them better and also say prayers. But there was some herbal treatment. Hartshorn was said to be a â€Å"demon expeller† but also a pain reliever. Common foods we would never think of as medicine hard great effect on healing. With advancements in tools and metals came more successful surgeries. Sharp stone was used at first but as copper came around it became a lot easier. Physicians would remove tumors and cysts near the skin easily. After surgery the wound would be wrapped in linen with honey holding it together. Honey prevented infection by killing bacteria, and this made many surgeries turn out successful! If there is illness there will be speculation on where it came from. The Egyptians had an idea that blocked channels caused illness. They got this idea because when the Nile did not flood, there was starvation which caused mass death. Treatments were developed to unblocked channels like castor oil to cause vomiting. Blood was also commonly drained out of veins. It was very common for some to not eat or force themselves to throw up for about three days a month to ensure clean channels. They believed another cause of illness to be evil spirits. To protect themselves they would wear jewelry with prayers and gods on it to watch and protect them. The most vulnerable times to spirits were thought to be while sleeping and during childbirth. At the times there would be many statues to protect and keep the person well. Egyptians had many ideas on how the body worked. One was that the respiratory system was the breath of life going into the right ear and death leaving the left ear. This was obviously very wrong but it’s interesting to see their interests in the mechanics of the human body. Pulse was detected and was linked to the heart, which was considered the most vital organ. The brain was really not thought of, and during embalming it would be broken and thrown away. The papyrus tells us that physicians had names for some of the major organs but not all. They did not dissect bodies to learn from them because that was against their religion. The only people to ever see inside the body were embalmers, but because they were considered unclean they were cut off from the community. It is a possibility that embalming is how they learned of the hearts importance but there is a bigger chance they learned this through warriors that had been injured. With so much care into health and wellness many people lived long lives. In ancient times 10% of Egyptian people lived past 50 which was very old for the time. Most fatalities happened before the age of five. Other dangerous times were teen years for women. Many girls were having children by the age of 14 or earlier and died in childbirth. This is the reason why many Egyptian men had a longer life span on average. When Romans and Greeks came into power, Egyptians still led in medicine. When Alexandria with built in northern Egypt it became the learning center for Greek medicine. The Romans visited Memphis in 200 B. C. E to copy down books from 1000 years after Ebers Papyrus was written! And the English used Egyptian treatments up until the 1900s when discoveries on disease and bacteria started being made. These practices that seem crazy to modern technology lasted for 3000 years and helped the world thrive to wear it is today! Without Egyptian medicine history and the world would be a very different place.

The Legend of Medusa - 907 Words

The Legend of Medusa As we all probably know medusa started off as a beautiful girl with beautiful golden curly hair. And ended up like a hideous monster that had venomous snakes for hair and could turn any man to stone by just looking into their eyes. But do you know how that came to be? Do you know the story of medusa? Most legends how they are stories and not fact have been changed drastically. And now there are many different interpretations. I have shortened the list to 2 very different interpretations of the story. The first one â€Å"A long time ago there was a beautiful woman her name was medusa. Medusa lived in the city of Athens which was in the country of Greece there were many beautiful women their but everyone new she was the most beautiful but so did she. She prided herself on it she was always looking at her own reflection when she could find somewhere to look. On Sunday Medusa bragged to the miller that her skin was more beautiful than fresh fallen snow. On Monday she bragged to the cobbler that her hair was brighter that the sun. Tuesday she commented that to the blacksmith’s son that her eyes were greener than the Aegean sea. Wednesday she boasted to everyone in the public gardens that her lips were redder than the reddest rose. One day her friends took her to the Parthenon temple which was the temple of the beautiful goddess Athena the goddess of wisdom this temple was the largest temple of Athena. Everyone who had ever entered the temple was awedShow MoreRelatedUnit 5 IP Art Appreciation AIU Online Essay774 Words   |  4 Pagessense of understanding for this type of art and how it is create. One of his paintings â€Å"Head of Medusa† can be seen by many as very grotesque, yet it is incredibly detailed and realistic. Medusa was known as a Gorgon in Greek mythology, and that was of evil. Many often described her as a winged type creature with head of snakes. Though, she was mortal and Perseus killed Medusa by decapitating her. Medusas death is found in the epic, Argonautica. This painting is most likely depicting the defeat ofRead More Greek Gods Essay example835 Words   |  4 Pages Greek Gods nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Welcome to my report on Greek gods and myths. You will learn about the gods and what they did. It is also about the myths and legends of Greece. greek gods nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The gods of Greece are alike many other types of gods. They were pictured a lot like human men and women. The Greeks didnt worship any animals. The gods, like people were endowed with many weaknesses. The gods could be jealous, envious, spiteful, and petty. The gods wereRead MoreGreek Mythology Essay1491 Words   |  6 PagesGreek Mythology Odysseus, in Greek legend, a Greek hero, ruler of the island of Ithaca and one of the leaders of the Greek army during the Trojan War. Homers Odyssey recounts Odysseuss adventures and ultimate return home ten years after the fall of Troy. Initially, Odysseus was mentioned as the son of Laertes, king of Ithaca, although in later tradition Sisyphus, king of Corinth, was considered his real father, his mother having later married Laertes. At first Odysseus refused to accompany theRead MoreDifferences Of Athena And Minerva801 Words   |  4 PagesAthena and Minerva turn Medusa hair into snakes. The story starts with Medusa being obsessed with how beautiful she was. When she goes into town, she was telling everyone how beautiful she was. When she reached Athena (Minerva) altar she insulted the goddess by saying that is she is prettier than her. Medusa then tells the patrons inside the altar to build her a temple so they can praise her beauty instead. Athena (Minerva) reveals herself to M edusa and says that she will take Medusa beauty away and transformRead MoreGreek Mythology And The Mythology850 Words   |  4 PagesThe world is a tremendously diverse place in which every different culture possesses their own beliefs. 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According to the legend, Acrisius abandoned his daughter and grandson by locking them in a chest and throwing them outRead MoreHistory of Perseus899 Words   |  4 PagesPolydectes knew that Perseus, being very poor, would arrive empty-handed. Perseus vowed that he could bring Polydectes anything that he wanted and so Polydectes demanded Perseus to bring him the head of the gorgon Medusa, hoping that he would be killed. Perseus set off on his adventure to kill Medusa and while stopping to rest one night in an unknown land, Perseus realized how hopeless the adventure seemed to be. â€Å"Gorgons were horrible, instead of hair they had black serpents that writhed on their headRead MoreEssay about The New Neverland: Fairy Tale Land1133 Words   |  5 Pagesknew she was up to something. She tells him of the legend of Medusa. Snow plans to cut off Medusa’s head and send it to me so I may turn to stone. Charming tells her he will come with her. While making their way to Medusa’s lair Charming asks if there is a way to reverse Medusa’s curse. He questions if this is what she would really want for me. They find the home of Medusa. Once inside Snow orders Charming to keep his eyes down. They find Medusa. Snow tries to cut off her head but the only thingRead MoreWhat are Urban Legends? Essay1107 Words   |  5 PagesUrban Legends What are Urban Legends? How would one define an urban legend and what is it that differentiates it from other similar terms such as legends, myths and folklore? These terms tend to be group together, and for good reason considering they are all interrelated of each other as a means of storytelling. A legend is established upon historic events but have a fictional component to them and possess great significance to the culture from where it was born. Examples include the legend of RobinRead MoreThe Myth Of The Divine Comedy2390 Words   |  10 PagesThe traditional myths—stories of legends, undying divine beings, and horrific creatures have been the wellsprings of numerous books, films, plays, and art. Today hordes of books, both scholarly and standard, examine the myths—their histories, conceivable sources, and impacts on a portion of the best writers ever, including Dante Alighieri. This writer composed one of the best works ever. Each part of The Divine Comedy has been dissected, from the reasons, to the plots, to the statement decisions