Using “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allen Poe, “The House Taken Over” by Julio Cortazar, and your own experiences or observations, write an explanatory essay (see outline below) that answers this question: Prompt: How and when does imagination overcome reason to then create mindless fear? Support your ideas with references to the text, as well as an anecdote – or brief narrative – from your own experience. Present the narrative as a specific example of a general idea. The essay should be at least 5 paragraphs and reflect your understanding of how authors explore the relationships between imagination, reason, and fear. Outline: Thesis Statement: Imagination overcomes reason when the characters in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ and ‘House Taken Over’ succumb to the psychological and supernatural forces that invade their minds and homes, leading to their ultimate downfall. Body Paragraph 1: Transition from reason to fear – Topic Sentence: In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Poe illustrates how rationality is gradually overshadowed by fear, leading to a complete surrender to irrational terror. – Evidence: “I know not how it was – but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment, with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible.” (1) – Commentary: The narrator’s initial rational thoughts upon seeing the Usher house quickly give way to a sense of dread, rooted not in fact but in the eerie atmosphere. This transition from reason to fear highlights how imagination, fueled by the setting and tales of decay, can override logical thought, creating a sense of doom that is more felt than understood. Body Paragraph 2: Human tendency to let the unknown become a source of terror – Topic Sentence: Similarly, in “House Taken Over,” Cortazar uses the characters’ passive surrender to an unknown and unseen presence, demonstrating how imagination can impact actions through fear. – Evidence: The siblings’ decision to block off parts of their house to the mysterious noises without looking for a rational explanation illustrates how fear, once rooted in the imagination, can impact behavior. – Commentary: This behavior demonstrates a human tendency to let the unknown become a source of terror, showing how imagination can easily overshadow reason when faced with unexplainable phenomena. Body Paragraph 3: influence of imagination on perception of reality – Topic Sentence: My own experiences mirror this theme, as there have been instances where my fears, fueled by imagination, have overwhelmed my rational thinking. – Anecdote: Once, while hiking in a beautiful mountain setting, the trek took longer than expected, and I found myself still on the trail after the nightfall. The unfamiliar sounds and shadows quickly became sources of irrational fear, despite my logical understanding that nothing had changed except the lighting. – Commentary: This personal experience highlights powerful influence imagination has on our perception of reality, demonstrating how easily it can transform familiar or even beautiful settings into places of terror.
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