Answer:
<em>"The Tell-Tale Heart"</em> is the ideal short story according to Poe's standards.
Explanation:
These are some of the arguments why:
Length: The story is short enough to read in one sitting, with less than twenty paragraphs
Ending: In fact the story ends with a climax. The protagonist can no longer hide his guilt: he admits to the officers how he has assassinated the old man and asks them to "tear up the planks" in which his corpse is concealed.
Unity of Effect: Poe builds an atmosphere from the very start of the story that is packed with anticipation and elicits a feeling of anxiety in the reader.
For instance, in the second paragraph, the narrator acknowledges that a crime was about to be committed, and goes on to explain the different motivations and measures he has developed.
Afterwards, the old man's beating heart (the victim) strengthens this sense of tension, as when the reader awaits to see whether the perpetrator actually gets a free pass.
