How is suspense created in a story like 'The Tell-Tale Heart'?

The story creates suspense by the internal conflict within the narrator. He is driven by his madness to kill the old man, yet his conscience seems to be lurking beneath the surface. As the story progresses, the sound of the old man's heart, which may be just in the narrator's head, heightens the tension. The police coming and the narrator's increasing paranoia as he hears the heart beating louder and louder makes for great suspense as we wait to see if he will be caught or break down.

The pacing of the story is a major element. It moves slowly at first, building up the details of the narrator's plan to kill the old man. This slow build - up creates suspense as we anticipate the act.

He uses pacing. The slow build - up to the murder, like the narrator's nightly visits to the old man's room, creates suspense. Also, the detailed description of the narrator's internal thoughts keeps the reader on edge.

He uses pacing. For example, the slow build - up to the murder as the narrator details his nightly visits to the old man's room. This makes the reader anticipate what will happen. Also, the detailed description of the narrator's internal thoughts adds to the suspense. We're not sure what he'll do next as we're inside his deranged mind.

Poe creates suspense through the narrator's unreliable narration. Since we can't trust what the narrator is saying completely, we are constantly on edge wondering what will happen next. Also, the slow build - up to the murder, with the narrator's nightly visits to the old man's room, adds to the suspense.

It's a short story because it has a concise plot and a relatively limited number of characters and events. The story unfolds quickly and gets to the point without extensive elaboration.

The story is horror because of the narrator's unstable mind and the way the heart's beating haunts them. The suspense and the psychological terror make it a perfect horror tale. Also, the element of being unable to escape the consequences of one's actions adds to the horror.

The old man is portrayed as a somewhat helpless figure. He is an innocent victim who is targeted because of something as superficial as his eye. We get a sense of his vulnerability from the description of his fear when he wakes up in the middle of the night, suspecting that someone is in his room. This makes his murder all the more tragic.

In the end, the narrator's own psychological torment gets the better of him. He can no longer bear the perceived sound of the heart and breaks down, revealing his crime. This shows the power of guilt and the fragility of the human mind.

The 'Tell Tale Heart' short story is relatively short, usually taking around 20 minutes to read.