It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night.

Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire.

What literary device is used in the underlined sentences above?

What literary device is used in the following lines?

"One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture-- a pale, blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold..."

"And then, when my head was well in the room, I undid the lantern cautiously--oh, so cautiously--cautiously (for the hinges creaked)..."

What literary technique is used in this line from the story?

Why is "Evil Eye" capitalized in the following sentence?

"...but I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye."

What type of figurative language is used here?

Upon the eighth night I was more than usually cautious in opening the door. A watch's minute hand moves more quickly than did mine.

What literary element is used in the following lines from the story?

"To think that there I was, opening the door, little by little, and he not even to dream of my secret deeds or thoughts. I fairly chuckled at the idea; and perhaps he heard me; for he moved on the bed suddenly, as if startled. Now you may think that I drew back--but no. His room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness (for the shutters were close-fastened, through fear of robbers), and so I knew that he could not see the opening of the door..."

Why does Poe allude to the "death watches" superstition in the following lines?

"I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed listening--just as I have done, night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall."

What type of figurative language is used here?

"...I resolved to open a little--a very, very little crevice in the lantern. So I opened it--you can imagine how stealthily, stealthily--until, at length, a single dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot from out the crevice and fell full upon the vulture eye."

What literary element is used in the following lines?

"It was open--wide, wide open-- and I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect distinction--all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow of my bones..."

What type of figurative language is used in the following lines?

"And now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the senses? Now I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man's heart."

What type of figurative language is being used here?

"I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man's heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage."

What sound device is used in the following line?

"...tear up the planks!--here, here!--it is the beating of his hideous heart!"