Journals
Alexandria Olejniczak
M/W 10:00
Due: 2/26/2014

Journal #1. In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” the narrator Montresor seeks revenge on his former friend Fortunato for an unknown insult. Poe uses various methods to build his plot throughout the story. Two of the main methods used are irony and symbolism. While reading “The Cask of Amontillado” there is no way to ignore the irony written into the story. One of the most noticeable is the way the narrator refers to him as his friend. Although Fortunato has wronged him enough to be punished by death, he continuously refers to him as friend while speaking about him. Another aspect of irony to help build the plot is the clothing worn by the characters. Fortunato while being a rich and well respected man is wearing a motley or a jester’s costume; which consisted of tight fitting stripped pants with a large hat with bells. Meanwhile, Montresor is wearing a black priest like outfit, not in the carnival spirit. One last example of irony in the story is the reaction that Montresor has after her has placed the last brick on the wall. He says that his “heart grew sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so(page170).” He is being more affected by the weather in the catacombs more than he is then sentencing his old friend to death. Another widely used method in Poe’s story is symbolism to help along the plot. The first sign of symbolism is the way the carnival is described as supreme madness. While they are using it to describe the carnival, it can also be used to describe the mind of the narrator. While you read the story you realize that he may not be a reliable source and may be mad. Poe also foreshadows how the story may end by the fact that the narrator has a trowel. He carries a trowel throughout the catacombs which to symbol the way he plans to punish Fortunato. Also his family motto is “no one insults without impunity.” which symbolizes that any kind of insult will require a consequence. But the fact that Fortunato seems to not think twice about any of the hints also shows that he may have no idea that he has offended his friend Montresor in anyway.

Journal #2:
How is the thing in the forest like a fairy tale? How is it different? To be able to determine is “The Thing in the Forest” is fairy tale or not you first have to know the true definition of what a fairy tale is: a children's story about magical and imaginary beings and lands. Some also interpret a fairy tale as a way to reject reality an turn it into entertainment for people to read about. With those two ways of looking at fairy tales clearly defined, I’m going to explain how Byatt’s story may or may not be referred to as a fairytale. The first way that you could classify “The Thing is the Forest” as a possible fairy tale is the way that the author creates almost a mysterious setting. You do not know where the girls are exactly going and when they get there, it is described as dark and dreary. But when the morning comes the mood is changed and everything is bright and better, which is gives you