This document analyzes the plot elements and structure of Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale Heart". It discusses how the story follows a dramatic plot, with four main parts: exposition introducing the narrator and old man, rising action as the narrator tries nightly to kill the man, climax when he succeeds, and falling action when the narrator confesses after hearing the dead man's heart. It also provides biographical context on Poe and a summary of the story's events. The purpose is to understand the characterization and progression of events through analyzing the plot.

1. INTRINSIC ELEMENTS
ANALYSIS: Plot in “The Tell-
Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan
Poe
BY GIGIH PANGESTU

2. Abstract
In this writing, the writer tries to analyze an intrinsic elements of short story
entitled “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe. The purpose of this writing is to
understand the characterization of the main character and the plot of the stories.
The writer uses the theories plot with close reading method. From this analyze, The
writer finds that the story using a dramatic or Progressive Plot . In conclusion,
through plot analysis we can understand better about this stories.
Keywords: short story, Dramatic Plot, plot

3. Introduction
“The Tell-Tale Heart” is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe an American
best known for his mystery and horror tales. This story, published in 1843, is told
from the point of view of a narrator who is responsible for taking care of an old
man with a clouded, "vulture-like" eye. As the story unfolds, themes of innocence,
guilt, and sanity—favorites of Poe's—are explored with remarkable power in
relatively few words.

4. Biography of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, as Edgar Poe in Boston,
Massachusetts. He is better known for his tales of mystery and macabre. He was
among the earliest American practitioners of short story and was generally
considered as the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. His best known fiction
works were generally Gothic and dealt with themes like the effects of
decomposition, concerns of premature burial, the reanimation of the dead, and
mourning. Edgar Allan Poe died in the hospital on Sunday, October 7, 1849.

5. Summary of The Story
The unnamed narrator of the story is a boy who lives in an old man’s house.
According to him, the old man has the eye like vulture. The narrators fears from the
eyes of old man. To overcome these fear, the narrator wants to kill the old man to
destroy the eye. Every night, the boy tries to kill the old man but becomes
unsuccessful. On the eighth night, he kills the old man to be free from the eye of
vulture. He cuts off the head and arms of the old man and hides the dead body
under the wooden floor. After the murder the three police officers have arrived to
the house for investigation. The narrator hides his inner feelings and behaves very
politely and pleasantly to the police officers. Then suddenly, the boy hears the tick-
tick sound and mistakes it for the heart beating of the dead body. The sound
becomes louder and then in his mad sense, the narrator confesses his crime.

6. Discussion
Plot
“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe using a dramatic or Progressive Plot. The
structure of this plot is can be divided into 4 parts; Exposition, Rising Action, climax and
Falling Action.
1. Exposition
Exposition is the part of the story that sets up the rest of the story. This part usually
introduces us to the characters and settings of the story to follow. In "The Tell-Tale
Heart," we meet the narrator and the old man, and we see that the setting is the
apartment of the narrator. We also see that the narrator insists that he is not insane, but
we can tell from the beginning that he is not sane at all. He tells us that he is not insane,
and then tells us he loved the old man and didn't want to kill him.

7. 2. Rising Action
The rising action of the story occurs when there is some kind of obstacle standing in
the way of the outcome of the story. Here the rising action occurs when the
goes into the old man's room for seven nights. He wants to kill the man, because he
thinks his blue hazy eye can see the inside of the narrator. Each night when he goes
to kill the man, the man's eye is open, making the narrator think the old man is
watching him.
3. Climax
The climax of a story is usually the most intense part of the story. Here the climax
occurs when the narrator kills the old man. He thinks that once he has killed him the
old man will not be able to see him anymore.

8. 4. Falling Action
The falling action of a story comes right after the climax. The falling action ties
everything up and ends the story. Here the falling action occurs when the narrator
"hears" the old man's heart beating, although he has just killed him. The police are
talking to the narrator, and he hears the beating of the dead man's heart getting
louder and louder. The narrator finally admits to what he has done and tells the
to tear up the floorboards to find the "beating heart."

9. Conclusion
“The Tell-Tale Heart” is a psychological and strange story written by Edger Allan
Poe. Tell Tale- Heart was considered Gothic fiction during this Romantic Movement
time period. We already find that this story using a dramatic or Progressive Plot
which is mean this story have four parts; Exposition, Rising Action, climax and
Falling Action.