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I liked Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Purloined Letter” because I like detective stories. I liked the way Dupin’s thought process went. When he tried to figure out things, he looked at it in the other person’s perspective and discover the way they would feel about something. Other people generally go about things in the same way they would see themselves doing something. That is exactly why no one, including the police, could find the letter. They looked in all of the places they would hide things like in seat cushions, under beds, in chair legs and various other places in the hotel room. They scavenged through every page of every book they encountered to find the letter. When really all they had to do was stop for a second and look at it through the Minister’s point of view. It was really interesting to me how detailed Dupin’s description of the letter was. He observed that the letter was folded back on itself and also the unusual roughness around the edges. After looking for all of the other details, he planned to come back the next day with a strategic plan to obtain the letter. This included him making a fake letter to replace the real one with as well as a diversion to get the Minister away from the table in order to grab the letter. Dupin was extremely smart and witty. It was cool because I know I wouldn’t notice the little things about the letter or be smart enough to carry out a plan in the way that he did. I don’t understand why some words were unfinished like D--------, G----------- or S------------. What does that mean? Sometimes the D------- ended to look like decipher, maybe that has an underlying meaning?
There were a lot of elements that went into this story which made it an ideal mystery. First, I think it was strange that the entire physical plot line of the story was confined to one room. The three characters discuss other places but the actual story location is kept very simple. Therefore, the entire plot line is revealed through mind games and verbal explanations. A lot of mystery stories are like a wild goose chase and a new clue in each place draws the reader in further. This story draws the reader’s attention in a different way; they want to know more information from each character. However, I feel as though having only three characters made the story more predictable because there are only so many people who could have stolen the letter. That is why I was not surprised when Dupin revealed that he had the letter and demanded money. I also thought this story was a stereotypical mystery story when the search for the letter was being described, how every nook and cranny was torn apart during the search process. Another element of the story I thought made the mystery more intense was the use of Hotel D----- and G-----. The purpose of the dashes is to keep the location and name undisclosed and general. It is supposed to make the reader think that this could happen to anyone, anywhere (a name and place are given in dashes), including right next door.
I found "The Purloined Letter" to be an interesting piece of literature to read. The mystery kept me in tune to what I was reading a lot more than the last couple poems we have been assigned to read. I enjoy watching television shows where they tear apart the homes in search for something, but nothing the way the Prefect had the minister's hotel searched. He said they needled the cushions, pulled up all the rugs and turned every page or every book. Simply shaking the books for the letter to fall out would not have been good enough. What fascinated me the most was that they examined the other chairs and tables in the hotel before they examined his. They were able to look close enough at the furniture that they would have noticed the smallest error or disturbance in the wood. I found it humorous that Duplin had the letter and still made the research the premise. I think the fact that they looked again gave his assurance that they were serious about finding the letter. Going off of what Courtney wrote, why were some words unfinished like D-----? or G-----? Was it suppose to be secretive on what their actual names were? I was confused by that also.
I liked Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Purloined Letter” because I like detective stories. I liked the way Dupin’s thought process went. When he tried to figure out things, he looked at it in the other person’s perspective and discover the way they would feel about something. Other people generally go about things in the same way they would see themselves doing something. That is exactly why no one, including the police, could find the letter. They looked in all of the places they would hide things like in seat cushions, under beds, in chair legs and various other places in the hotel room. They scavenged through every page of every book they encountered to find the letter. When really all they had to do was stop for a second and look at it through the Minister’s point of view. It was really interesting to me how detailed Dupin’s description of the letter was. He observed that the letter was folded back on itself and also the unusual roughness around the edges. After looking for all of the other details, he planned to come back the next day with a strategic plan to obtain the letter. This included him making a fake letter to replace the real one with as well as a diversion to get the Minister away from the table in order to grab the letter. Dupin was extremely smart and witty. It was cool because I know I wouldn’t notice the little things about the letter or be smart enough to carry out a plan in the way that he did. I don’t understand why some words were unfinished like D--------, G----------- or S------------. What does that mean? Sometimes the D------- ended to look like decipher, maybe that has an underlying meaning?
ReplyDeleteThere were a lot of elements that went into this story which made it an ideal mystery. First, I think it was strange that the entire physical plot line of the story was confined to one room. The three characters discuss other places but the actual story location is kept very simple. Therefore, the entire plot line is revealed through mind games and verbal explanations. A lot of mystery stories are like a wild goose chase and a new clue in each place draws the reader in further. This story draws the reader’s attention in a different way; they want to know more information from each character. However, I feel as though having only three characters made the story more predictable because there are only so many people who could have stolen the letter. That is why I was not surprised when Dupin revealed that he had the letter and demanded money. I also thought this story was a stereotypical mystery story when the search for the letter was being described, how every nook and cranny was torn apart during the search process. Another element of the story I thought made the mystery more intense was the use of Hotel D----- and G-----. The purpose of the dashes is to keep the location and name undisclosed and general. It is supposed to make the reader think that this could happen to anyone, anywhere (a name and place are given in dashes), including right next door.
ReplyDeleteI found "The Purloined Letter" to be an interesting piece of literature to read. The mystery kept me in tune to what I was reading a lot more than the last couple poems we have been assigned to read. I enjoy watching television shows where they tear apart the homes in search for something, but nothing the way the Prefect had the minister's hotel searched. He said they needled the cushions, pulled up all the rugs and turned every page or every book. Simply shaking the books for the letter to fall out would not have been good enough. What fascinated me the most was that they examined the other chairs and tables in the hotel before they examined his. They were able to look close enough at the furniture that they would have noticed the smallest error or disturbance in the wood. I found it humorous that Duplin had the letter and still made the research the premise. I think the fact that they looked again gave his assurance that they were serious about finding the letter. Going off of what Courtney wrote, why were some words unfinished like D-----? or G-----? Was it suppose to be secretive on what their actual names were? I was confused by that also.
ReplyDelete