The cask of amontillado annotations pdf

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Heather Lee

Dr. Eward-Mangione

ENC 1102

13 June 2017

Project Two: Final Draft

Revenge can sometimes leave people feeling unhappy and, instead of helping most

people move on, it leaves them dwelling on the situation. These four sources all conclude that the

motivation for revenge is seeking to restore their lives. The first article compares anger-driven

responses to acting on the feelings of revenge. The second annotation is of a short story in which

revenge is the dominant social issue. The short story shows readers the long-term effects that

revenge can have on both individuals. The third article compares two groups of individuals. The

revenge-seeker believes acting on feelings of revenge is fair, and the revenge-recipient believes

the act of revenge is excessive and unnecessary. The final annotation examines the impact that

the acts of revenge can have on most people.

Elshout, Maarjte, et al. “Vengeance Is Self-Focused: Comparing Vengeful to Anger-Driven

Responses.” Cognition & Emotion, vol.29, no.7, Nov.2015, pp.1239-1255. EBSCOhost,

doi.10.1080/02699931.2014.976181.

In the article “Vengeance Is Self-Focused: Comparing Vengeful to Anger-Driven

Responses,” by Maarjte Elshout, et al., the researchers examine the differences between revenge

and anger-driven responses. In this article, it states that anger is the primary emotion driving

individuals to seek revenge against another person who they feel has harmed them tremendously.

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The findings, after many case studies, reveal that “…it is not clear if and how responses fueled

by anger and responses fueled by feelings of revenge differ from each other.” (Elshout et al.

1239). In this particular study, the researchers compare; 309 workers, all of these participants

lived in the Unites States of America. They were assigned randomly to either the feelings of

revenge or to the feelings of anger. The included participants in this study, which was based on a

questionnaire, all had actually acted on their feelings of revenge or anger, at some point during

their situation. They were asked to describe a situation in which they had experienced from either

feelings of anger or revenge that stemmed from another person’s behavior toward them. The

participants were also asked to describe that situation or circumstance in detail, if possible.

Furthermore, they were asked to include the emotions they felt on the questionnaire. This study

reveals that “…revenge is self-focused and is a type of negative response with special

characteristics.” (1249). The study concludes that of all included participants, 78 percent actually

displayed negative behavior towards the person who initially offended them. The other 22

percent decided not to act on their feelings of anger. Finally, this study showed that the

individuals that acted on their feelings of revenge were found to be more willing to perform the

acts of revenge than those who were just angry responders. Researchers in this article found

revenge to be more personal and self-focused (1248). Nevertheless, they did find that many

people often agreed that acting out of revenge gives most people an emotional release and will

help a person feel better. But, in fact, based on this questionnaire, revenge was found to have the

opposite effect. The researchers discuss in the article the long-term effects of acts of revenge, in

which, there are many. The findings of this study reveal that revenge responses are not the same

as anger-driven responses.

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Poe, Edgar Allen. “The Cask of Amontillado.” Porazble Literature:Reading,Writing,Reacting.

Edited by Laurie Kirszner and Stephen Mandell, 9th edition, Cengage, 2016, pp.250-255.

The second annotation is “The Cask of Amontillado”, by Edgar Allen Poe. This is a short

story about two men, Montresor and Fortunato. Montresor forms an evil, murderous plan of

revenge against Fortunato for reasons that were never truly justified in the story. Montresor

sought revenge against Fortunato because of the injuries he had borne the best he could, “...but

when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge” (Poe qtd. in Kirszner and Mandell 250).

Montresor, as a part of his plan, knows that Fortunato is vulnerable at this moment because of his

level of drunkenness. He lures Fortunato down to the catacombs by asking Fortunato to verify

whether or not that his cask of Amontillado is authentic (251). After arriving down at the

catacombs, Montresor proceeds to chain Fortunato to the wall and entombs him inside by

surrounding him with brick and mortar, which kills Fortunato. Montresor’s act of revenge is

carried out exactly according to his plan. Montresor feels no remorse and continues on with his

life as if nothing had happened.

Stillwell, Arlene M.et al. “We’re All Victims Here: Toward a Psychology of Revenge.” Basic &

Applied Social Psychology, vol.30, no.3, Jul-Sept 2008, pp.253-263. EBSCOhost, doi:

10.1080/01973530802375094.

“We’re All Victims Here: Toward a Psychology of Revenge,” by Arlene M. Stillwell et

al., is an article that discusses the two different studies performed and the results that were

concluded. These studies were done to shed light on this recurrent problem of revenge in human

conflict. The researchers argued that revenge is “....an aggressive act that is often justified by the

pursuit of equity” (Stillwell et al. 253). The authors also discuss the fact that many believe

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revenge is fascinating to study because “…many of those who have suffered injustices would

probably welcome the opportunity to gain revenge on the people who harmed them-assuming, of

course, that further retaliation would not follow.” (253). Study One compare incidents of revenge

from both perspectives, the avenger (revenge-seeker) and the revenge-recipient. The prediction

of the researchers’, that equity restoration was a motivation for revenge, was supported (257).

They concluded, “Study One found that both avengers and recipients viewed themselves as

victims, but they were also willing to accept some measure of blame for the situation, as well as

to justify their actions.” (257). In Study Two, the participants shared either an event with

researchers’, in which, they were angered and then sought revenge on another, or shared a

situation when they were angered but did not seek revenge (258). Responses to a questionnaire

served as the primary data for analysis. In this study, the non-revenge seekers noted that they did

not seek revenge because “…it would not have been an effective strategy for the situation, or

they cited ethical or moral reasons for their decisions.” (259). Researchers concluded that

avengers, for the most part, seek to harm the person who harmed them, but by no means, is

justice achieved when this happens (260). Many researchers in this article agree that, equity

might be difficult to achieve when revenge is being sought. Also, they also agree that when

people are hurt they may try to restore equity by seeking revenge. In these studies, from the

perspective of the revenge-seeker, they all agreed that their actions were justified. Nevertheless,

both studies focused on whether or not, restoring equity by seeking revenge is necessary. A great

example of revenge, used in this article, is the famous, long-standing feud between the Hatfield

family and the McCoy family (262). Even in one of the longest running and bloodiest feuds,

eventually came to a peaceful end in 2000. These findings, conclude that, there is a solution

possible without having to act on feelings of revenge.

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“The Impact of Revenge.” Psychologist, vol.30, Mar.2017, p.15, EBSCOhost, db11.linccweb.

org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=121408

839&site=ehost-live.

The final annotation, “The Impact of Revenge”, is an article that has been featured on the

Research Digest blog and has received international media interest. “The Impact of Revenge”,

was written based on Dr. David Chester and Dr. C. Nathan DeWall’s work. It was initially

published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The researchers’ saw 156

participants who received fake negative or positive feedback on essays they had written.

Participants in the negative feedback group were allowed to carry out revenge using a voodoo

doll to symbolize the instructor that gave the negative feedback (“The Impact of Revenge”, 15).

After following through on acts of revenge, the participants’ mood was fully restored and

comparable to the mood in the positive feedback group (15). Dr. Chester concludes that maybe

seemingly pointless aggression can have a purpose. Chester stated, “Revenge is the most

common form of aggressive behavior and a massive cause of harm to humankind.” (15). The

researchers wanted to get a better understanding as to why people hurt each other and how

professionals can prevent it through therapy. This research performed had a huge impact on the

visibility of Dr. Chester and DeWall’s findings. Nevertheless, learning all of this information

from the questionnaire, Chester said, “People want to understand the reasons behind their own

behaviors and the behaviors of others.” (15). Dr. Chester hopes that professionals will be able to

help those who display a tendency to seek revenge.

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Works Cited

Elshout, Maarjte, et al. “Vengeance Is Self-Focused: Comparing Vengeful to Anger-Driven

Responses.” Cognition & Emotion, vol.29, no.7, Nov.2015, pp.1239-1255. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1080/02699931.2014.976181.

“Impact of Revenge.” Psychologist, vol.30, Mar.2017, p.15, EBSCOhost, db11.linccweb.

org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=121408

839&site=ehost-live.

Poe, Edgar Allen. “The Cask of Amontillado.” Portable Literature: Reading, Writing, Reacting,

Edited by Laurie Kirszner and Stephen Mandell, 9th edition, Cengage, 2016, pp.250-255.

Stillwell, Arlene M., et al. “We’re All Victims Here: Toward a Psychology of Revenge.” Basic&

Applied Social Psychology, vol.30, no.3, Jul-Sept2008, pp.253-263. EBSCOhost, doi:

10.1080/01973530802375094.