Poe's Punctuation

Even though I have read Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”, every time I read it I still have the same reaction. My tempo as I read changes. At the beginning I read at a normal pace because nothing has happened that is too suspicious. As the book progresses though I always seem to read a bit faster because the narrator decides to kill the old man. As a reader I am intrigued and want to know what happens next. When the narrator has killed the old man my reading starts to slow down because I see the climax as being over. The main action that the story has been leading up to has ended. But then my reading pace picks up again as the narrator goes crazy. I love how Poe’s writing can have such an effect on how I read his books. It’s completely different than if I read a love story or any other story because of his writing techniques.

After analyzing his writing I think it has to do with his punctuation marks. If you look at a page dashes are seen throughout. The dashes enunciate a point that a writer is trying to make and draws the reader’s eye to that point. A writer may use a dash frequently, but by frequently I mean once or twice within a paper. In comparison to Poe who is using the dash at least once a paragraph. “You should have seen how wisely I proceeded—with what caution—with what foresight—with what dissimulation I went to work!” (Poe 13). Reading this sentence fast is easy because with the dashes you add emphasis to each of this things he does well. For me when I read it I read it as a mad man would be saying the words, pausing after each point drawing you in and saying it louder and louder to make a point of how smart he is.

Exclamation points are another punctuation mark that is used more frequently than most writers. I know for myself I use exclamation points only when I am texting friends or sending out emails to family members. With the exclamation point I am using it to show excitement, but I make sure when I am texting and emailing with exclamation points that I don’t overdo it. I am never that excited about my topic. Poe on the other hand I believe is using his exclamation points to show the madness of the narrator. Especially by the end of the story the exclamations are in every sentence. “Oh God! what could I do? I foamed—I raved—I swore! I swung the chair …but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder—louder—louder!” (Poe 17). In these lines Poe is using both the dash as well as the exclamation points to show the progression of the narrator’s madness. Which overall speeds up the pace the readers read the story at because that is how the narrator is speaking the lines as well, he is saying each thing faster and faster, thus showing his madness.

- Rachel