Response on Analysis of The Pit and the Pendulum

When you can take words and piece them together so that you come up with a cohesive argument to make your audience want to change their ways then you must be a special writer. This is the case with Edgar Allen Poe. Along with every wonderful argument there are what you would call holes or gaps that need to be filled. But Poe seems to come almost come across every aspect of his arguments.

As stated by Keats," That the English Romantics generally influenced Poe's aesthetics is obvious, especially in his preference for the lyric over longer poetic forms, and his consequent insistence that a poem's worth be measured by the intensity and quality of the emotion it evokes" (University of California Press p.84). The reason for putting in the whole quote was to capture the effect of what he was really talking about. Being a long quote there are a lot of pieces to it that give off sufficient information but i would like to focus mainly on the fact that a poem's worth is based on emotion evoked. Now if you were to say that the reason why this particular piece is very popular is because it sets off an emotion that draws everyone in then it could be right and wrong. Reason why! Some people take different emotions and can handle it in different ways. For instance, The Pit and the Pendulum made me really think of what life really is and to always cherish it. The you could say that this argument is successful. But if someone was reading this and said that it was just like all other short stories that he/she had read then it would not be a successful argument because it didn't take that persons' emotions and shift it left or right. For this specific argument i think it would be best to say that the worth of an argument is not based mainly on the intensity or quality of emotion but if it happens to get you emotional or shift your views left or right.

The many people who gave their comments as to what The Pit and the Pendulum represents or symbolizes have been directed in the right direction but aren't quite on the ball. Their arguments are not filled. They still hold spots for much more information to aid the argument. So take the advice given. So by saying that the beginning scenes to the story are suppose to be symbols for a new birth is fine, but is the argument given good enough. You can top that off by saying that it is a start of imagination. You have to dig deep into one's soul to bring out the inner meaning in what is being said.

The main point through the whole response was to establish the fact that not only Poe is a great writer but he makes mistakes like everyone else. So when he takes criticism from us and everyone who talked about it to make his writing better, we can also do the same. Just think that your writing is like a sponge full of craters that can constantly be filled with information.