t, fallen heavily upon the floor of silver –I became aware of a distinct, hollow, metallic, and clangorous, yet apparently muffled reverberation”(776). The conflict that the narrator has is to resist being pulled into Roderick’s insanity and misery about his dear sister, Madeline.The Climax of the story comes when the deceased Madeline bursts through the windows of Roderick’s study and attacks Roderick. The narrator at this point in the story runs to save himself. The question that is often debated over is whether the narrator was running away from the corpse of Madeline or if it was the insanity of Roderick Usher. The denouement of the story is the narrator standing outside the House of Usher thinking of the sad fate that both Roderick and Madeline suffer as the house crumbles on top of them. “While I gazed, this fissure rapidly widened –there came a fierce breath of the whirlwind –the entire orb of the satellite burst at once upon my sight –my brain reeled as I saw the mighty walls rushing asunder –there was a ling tumultuous shouting sound like the voice of a thousand waters –and the deep and dark tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the House of Usher”(777).Washington Irving’s story “Rip Van Winkle” is about a simple village man that lives his life under the rule of the British. His everyday activities consist of conversing with other villagers in a local Inn. “The children, too, would shout with joy whenever he approached”(621).Rip Van Winkle’s wife Dame Van Winkle unfortunately nagged him to do a bunch of choirs. Rip decides to go off into the woods with his dog Wolf and his gun to get away from his wife. Rip stumbles across a gentleman who directs Rip to a tavern where he gets excessively drunk and passes out. When Rip awakens he walks back to his town only to discover that there is something differe...
