Write a research paper on the Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe.Your research paper’s thesis statement is the most important task for you. The thesis should be created as earlier as possible as the rest of your paper revolves around it. The first task to complete is to draft a usable thesis.
Thesis statement: Poe’s first person narrative style in The Cask of Amontillado haunts readers with horror, while giving the liberty of judging the killer for his artistic ability or insanity in executing his plan of doing away with his friend.
Topic sentence: The narrator of the story Montresor, by being a hard core avenger and a calm gentleman simultaneously, creates a horror mood until he actually buried alive Fortunato, who never suspects his friend.
Argument: Poe creates a spine-chilling horror mood as he takes the readers through the narrator’s experience of killing his friend Fortunato five decades ago. One does not expect a killer instinct in the narrator in the beginning as he shares his intention of taking revenge on Fortunato for having insulted him several times in the past. Although he expresses his intention to punish Fortunato by saying ‘I must not only punish but punish with impunity,’ the readers do not expect that poor Fortunato had been a barrier to the narrator’s freedom all these years (Poe, 1905). The horror mood slowly pervades as the narrator hints that he should not suffer for punishing his friend and nor does his friend suspect him. The readers’ heartbeat gradually increases at the suspense, and they could literally feel their heart beat through their mouth when he walks his friend through the family vaults in the pretext of treating him to his favorite Amontillado wine.
Sadly, Fortunato is so unfortunate to understand that he has been tricked by his friend when the last stones are placed in the tomb. Walking his victim through the underground vaults in the darkness when no one else is in the house adds to the horror mood created by the author.
Concluding sentence: Poe makes the readers hear their heartbeat through their mouth as Montresor walks them through the dark vault, along with the victim Fortunato, to rest his friend in his family tomb.
For the paper, your thesis statement should be an argument that is based on one of the schools of literary criticism. A clear method for considering this is to think of the thesis as the result of combining the reading you find most interesting with the school of literary criticism that appeals to you. As you read the three short stories take notes on what in the story is interesting to you. This will help you find the thesis you want to work with quickly.
For example, suppose you find Montresor of Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado interesting because he murders without any remorse or feelings. This is the seed we need to write the paper. Think of it this way:
Interesting Reading + School of Literary Criticism = Thesis and topic
Montresor is a stone-cold killer + psychoanalytic criticism = and argument why Montresor is emotionless
A little research in this area might show you that killers with no feelings can suffer from schizophrenia. This becomes your thesis then:
Montresor suffers from schizophrenia.
With this thesis, we can then spend the paper proving our argument that Montresor has schizophrenia. Our argument is found by close reading and consideration of the elements in the literature that interest us most. Again, it is important that you work on the thesis for your paper as earlier as possible.
