"During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day ...when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens..." With these words Edgar Allen Poe begins one of his most famous works. Poe was an American writer who will never be forgotten. During the nineteenth century he became known as the Father of American Short Story. Poe's works are easily identified by his use of vivid imagery and the use of the dark side of human nature. In "The Fall of the House of Usher," Poe uses this same dark imagery to give the reader a deep feel of terror along with rhetorical devices.
             The first line leaves many clues as how the rest of the story will progress. The day is described as "dull, dark, and soundless"; this has a connotation of death. The heavens are described as hanging low, which tells us that death, is coming. The story is also taking place during autumn. This is the time when plants are dormant and practically dead. Autumn is also during the fall. How can you not see what that is leading to? All the sinister terms used in the first paragraph set the elegiac atmosphere.
             When Poe begins to describe the Usher house he uses personification and alliteration. He makes the house seem almost alive which adds to our insecurity. Poe makes the house come alive by saying that the windows are "vacant" and "eye-like." "There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart..." The use of this alliteration is to make you feel the nastiness of this house. This repetition seems almost like a warning of what is to come. The "sss" sound comes from animals and reptiles when warning others not to mess with them. Poe's use of rhetorical embellishment aids in placing the fear in our hearts.
             From the first line of " The Fall of the House of Usher", Edgar Allen Poe is striving toward the single effect of misery. All the gloom in the imagery combined with the neg...