Writing The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe Analysis Essay

The essay question: short form

Using the interpretive lens of New Criticism and the analytic tools of the elements and devices, what is the meaning of Poe’s tale, and how do you know that?

The essay question: longer form

Drawing on the principles and strategies for literary interpretation employed by New Criticism, write a 5-6 paragraph essay (min 4 full pages) that analyzes Poe’s “The Black Cat.” You are to make an assertion/reading about the text’s meaning in which you “interpret like a New Critic,’ or “wearing New Critical glasses.” 

You may use one or two or four New Critical concepts as analytic tools. If you choose one concept only, you should have four examples of it from the text, all that offer something slightly different, which will contribute to your analysis/thesis. If you choose two different concepts, you should have two examples of each. If you choose 4 concepts, then provide one example of each. Whichever you choose, be sure the all come together into a unifed thesis – they all must work together to prove the interpretation you assert, much like Poe’s “single effect.”