"The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe wrote that the single effect was the most important aspect of a short story, which everything must contribute to this effect. Poe’s gothic tale “The Black Cat” was written trying to achieve an effect of shocking insanity. In this first person narrative the narrator tells of his decline from sanity to madness, all because of an obsession with two (or possibly one) black cats. …showed first 75 words of 678 total…

…showed last 75 words of 678 total…the cellar. Obviously, the setting, symbolism, plot, word choice, and character development contributed greatly to the effect of shocking insanity in Edgar Allan Poe’s masterpiece, “The Black Cat.” Without these, there would be no story at all. Poe’s skillful use of all of these elements, the least of these being setting and the greatest of these being character development, creates a shocking tale, which leaves the mind to ponder in all its horror.