Tension and Length in Poe

In “The Philosophy of Composition,” Poe writes that literary works that take longer than a sitting to read cannot make use of “unity of impression.” This unity is the main reason that Poe’s short stories are able to make the sudden endings so powerful. Poe is a master of using the “unity of impression” to create tension within the reader that drives them to finish the story and find the ending a release of the built up tension. The choice of eerie tones and settings and subjects coupled with his masterful use of tension force the reader to read until they confront the ending. It is clear even without “The Philosophy of Composition” that Poe intended his short stories to be read in one sitting and so found an interesting and original method, intriguing and terrific plots driven by unsettling descriptions in a not quite concrete setting, to ensure they would be entertaining enough to hold the reader to the denouement.

The short length of the Raven is also chosen specifically with the intention that the reader will read it in one sitting and experience the rapid increase in tension undone by the abrupt conclusion. However, Poe puts a great amount of thought into how he builds the tension in the poem in his choice of feet that force the poem forward at a tempo that’s driving pace contributes to the strangeness the poem evokes that contributes to the tension. His careful choices and his methodical work on the Raven he outlines show how he went about creating the story and why he made each choice in the poem.
Unlike Poe, Cooper does not feel the need to build tension over the course of a story but rather drops small plots that build tension extremely fast and release it without ever letting the reader sit with the tension. Poe tries to entertain a reader to the end but Cooper just strings a series of rapid tense scenes together without effectively creating a feeling of tension in the reader.