Question

from “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country, and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was—but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment, with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible. I looked upon the scene before me—upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain—upon the bleak walls—upon the vacant eye-like windows—upon a few rank sedges—and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees—with an utter depression of soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveller upon opium—the bitter lapse into every-day life—the hideous dropping off of the veil. Source: Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Fall of the House of Usher.” The Fall of the House of Usher. Project Gutenberg, June 1997. Web. 12 May 2011. from “A Pair of Silk Stockings” by Kate Chopin The play was over, the music ceased, the crowd filed out. It was like a dream ended. People scattered in all directions. Mrs. Sommers went to the corner and waited for the cable car. Source: Chopin, Kate. “A Pair of Silk Stockings.” The Awakening and Selected Short Stories. Project Gutenberg, 11 Mar. 2006. Web. 12 May 2011. Discuss ways in which these authors differ in style. Refer to specific details from each story to support your points.

Answer 1

Answer:

Poe presents a more poetic writing and full of adjectives, in addition to the presentation of narration in first person. Chopin, on the other hand, presents a more direct and objective writing, with full exposure of facts and narration in a third person.

Explanation:

While reading the passage written by Poe, we can see that the author was adept at using first-person narration, where the narrator is the main character of the story. In addition, Poe's writing is quite poetic, subjunctive, full of meanings and metaphors, with a strong appeal to sentimentality and full of adjectives.

The reading of the excerpt written by Chopin, presents characteristics totally different from those found in the Poe excerpt. Chopin is a fan of fast, incisive and objective writing, for this reason, we fail to notice the recurrent use of adjectives and metaphors, since the author prefers to establish a clearer and less verbose writing.