zz1 Spé B à Coubertin

 GROUP B : About the next paragraphs : The narrator says he received a letter from his friend Roderick Usher, who was ill and requested his presence. The narrator then thinks about the house, and talks about his imagination. Is he crazy ? some themes : - Time and decadence ("ancient family," "long ages," time-honoured," "the long lapse of centuries") - Insanity and inbreeding ("nervous agitation," "mental disorder," bodily illness," "ancient family," "the Usher race," "deficiency," "from sire to son," "direct line of descent") - the air is full of disease ("an atmosphere peculiar," reeked," "pestilent," "mystic vapour," "leaden-hue") - The narrator's trustworthiness ("sentiments," first singular impression," "the consciousness," "my superstition," "paradoxical," "a strange fancy,...

    The first paragraph of The Fall of the House of Usher Reading this introduction, we got a feel for its poetic nature, and its sadness, its gloom. Then we wondered about the number of characters in this passage. We found two of them : the narrator, and the house itself. Indeed (en effet) , the house is " melancholy ," just like a human being ; and just like a human being, it's got " vacant, eye-like windows ." This last motif is a figure of speech called personification, or catechresis . The catechresis of the house in the opening of The Fall of the House of Usher has become extremely famous, and has inspired generations of writers and movie directors. For instance, the house in The Amityville Horror has windows that look exactly like eyes. Just like in Poe's story, these eyes are empty, and feel evil.    le narrateur arrive à cheval dans les environs de la maison, qui sont sordides. Il décrit la maison, et ses sentiments alors qu'il la conte...