the pit and the pendulum lit response

Morgan Mullen
11/12/08
Period 11

“The Pit and the Pendulum” Lit Response

In this reading the author was researching a deeper meaning in the words of Edgar Allan Poe in his story The Pit and the Pendulum. In this selection the author uses others thoughts and opinions from their works to support her claims. The flaw I found with this piece is that all the works the author cited from said a similar point and the points are not explained well. If I could change it I would put more of my ideas into the piece and have various points to support my argument.
The main idea of the reading was finding what Poe’s deeper meaning was in The Pit and the Pendulum. In the reading the author started by stating that in The Pit and the Pendulum Poe used imagery to the bible and was trying to give an apocalyptic feel to the story. The author goes further by quoting from the bible itself and citing works from Hirsch. The author also points out that Poe associates the divine with infancy and uses the works of Wordworth.
The flaw I found is that almost all the work cited were repeating each other and examples were not explained. In the beginning it was stated that Poe used allusions to the bible and signified the “Second Coming of Christ” but after words it is repeated. Not only that but the works cited used the same example in the story but got a different thing from it; for example when Hirsch brings in the “burr of a mill-wheel” he states that it is an allusion to God coming to Earth and saving the nameless character, however, when Bonaparte brings in the “burr of a mill-wheel” he states it is an allusion to an infant in the womb and also that infancy is divine. At the end of this selection did the author get to the main point or prove her statement? No, I don’t think so.
If I could change the piece I would make it understandable and more concise. I would state the main idea and carry it through. I would add more of my thoughts and only cite when it proves to the point. When citing I wouldn’t repeat my idea with too many other ideas because this can confuse readers. I would also try to explain why I believe myself to be right and use facts instead of inferences from others.