Beginning of Essay
Many authors have made great contributions to the world of literature. Mark Twain introduced Americans to life on the Mississippi; Thomas Hardy wrote on his pessimistic views of the Victorian Age; and Edgar Allen Poe, known as the father of the detective story, m ....

Middle of Essay
.... the low arches that hover over Fortunato and Montresor, the walls lined with human remains, and the insufferably damp atmosphere cause a feeling of terror to escalate for the reader. The descent down into the vaults is reminiscent of Dante's "Inferno," going down into the depths of hell. Through Poe's descriptions, the reader can feel the dripping dampness, smell the "foulness" of the air" (Poe, 114), see the eerie glow of the flambeaux, touch the crusty nitre which "hangs like moss upon the vaults (Poe, 1148), and hear the "loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly from the throat of the chained form" (Poe, 1150). Through the setting, Poe is very ....