English Literature

Outline
Thesis Statement The form and development of the confessional narrative in Edgar Allan Poes The Tell-Tale Heart, The Imp of the Perverse, and The Man of the Crowd supports the existential quest for the meaning of the narrators in the texts.

Poes considers narrative development as an important aspect in producing the desired effect within a text.

The development of a confessional narrative which lies heavily on the first person perspective of the narrator allows the increase in the desired effect of a text to the reader.

By utilizing the confessional narrative along with the first person perspective of this type of narrative, Poe was able to increase the readers awareness of the existential dilemma experienced by the narrators in The Tell-Tale Heart, The Imp of the Perverse, and The Man of the Crowd.

In The Tell-Tale Heart, this is apparent as the reader is forced to question his conception of sanity and rationality as the narrator presents his argument for the necessity of rationality in the process of committing a systematic murder.

In The Imp of the Perverse, this is apparent as the reader is forced to question his conception of rationality as the narrator presents the dilemmas evident in human existence that leads a person to commit acts of perversion.

In The Man of the Crowd, this is apparent as the reader is forced to question his conception of the necessity of human interaction in human existence as the narrator questions the value of human interaction.