"The Black Cat" Literary Devices

"I spoke ... I even ... I failed... I grew..."

First Person Narrator

"But tomorrow I die, and I would give the world my story..."

Foreshadowing

"But gradually - very gradually, I came to look upon it with such loathing that I would turn away quickly from sight of it."

Repetition

"I am almost ashamed to own this - yes, in this prison cell."

Setting

"Pluto - this was the cat's name..."

Symbol

"I do not expect YOU to believe what I am about to write."

Talks to the Reader Directly

"At once a fury of a demon filled me. My better self seemed to take flight from my body. A fiend-like, gin-fed evil thrilled my whole frame. I took from my pocket a pen knife, opened it, grasp the poor beast by the throat, and cut one of its eyes out from the socket."

Tension in Language

"The outline of this spot began to change, by slow degrees - so slow that for a long time I would not believe that a change was taking place, except in my fancy. At last the spot took the outline of an object that I shudder to name a hideous- a ghastly thing- the GALLOWS! "

Descriptive Language & Details

"Only a madman would expect it. Yet mad I am not."

Reference to Madness

"The guilt of my dark deed troubled me little...I felt quite safe, sure that my careful work had not been in vain."

Arrogant Narrator

"'The cat was beautiful, large, black and so very knowing that my wife said he caused her to believe the old story that black cats are witches in disguise."

Metaphor