Writing Style Comparison. Edgar Allan Poe and Washington Irving - Essay Example

The main similarity between the two authors is the usage of loose sentences. In this style, the author begins with the most important message and completes the sentence with one or two clauses that are less significant. For instance, “I scarcely breathed, I held the lantern motionless” is a loose sentence in the “Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe (Poe). Similarly, “I would not have it imagine, however, that was one of those cruel potentates” is a loose sentence (Poe). Although the two sentences are grammatically correct, they have a loose construction.

The authors use such sentences to create connection with the audience. Readers of these stories are compelled into believing that the authors knew what they wanted or had plans for the audience. Diction is the other literacy style that is evident in the two stories. Diction is created using argumentative and expository prose. Diction enables writers to analyze and discuss certain subject matter extensively. In the “Legend of the Sleeping Hollow”, the author focuses on a town known as Tarry.

The author explains and describes the town extensively through the story. Although the story revolves around evil spirits and superstitious nature of people within the town, the author has good knowledge about the town and its people. On the other hand, in “The Tale-Tells Heart”, the author tells the encounters of a nameless narrator. Although the author deals with a nameless narrator, the author dedicates much of his writing explaining the anxious behaviour of the narrator. Symbolism is also a common writing style in both stories.

Although the “Tell-Tale Heart” has more elaborate features of symbolism than in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, usage of symbolism in both stories is different. Symbolism features such as the old man’s eyes were as blue as veil. In addition, the narrator mentions “watch” several times in the story. Watch is a visual representation and it represents the aspect of imagery as used in the story. The authors use symbolism and imagery to express the extent or seriousness of something. Unlike Washington Irving, Poe is conscious about usage of stylistic devices and the interface of his work with the audience.

Poe’s writing style is quite maddening and he uses high precision in his choice of words and sentence construction. His sentences are, however, rough since they do not express high standard of connectivity between different clauses that make each sentence. On the other hand, Poe fails to conclude most of his sentence and, thus, each of his sentences opens a series of debates and controversy. Poe also prefers short sentences. Although most of such sentences seem to be incomplete, the short sentences indicate emphasis and preciseness.

In addition, most of his long sentences seem to be vague and meaningless. The usage of short sentences enables the writer to create emphasis and grasp the attention of the readers. Usage of short sentences is a major factor that differentiates the two