In a way the prince is leading the guests to their deaths much like the dance of death where a skeleton lead people to their grave. Another way Poe employs allusions is the way the spectra image out-Heroded Herod, and that “he had come like a thief in the night (p.18)”.

Herod, a king, killed a tremendous number of innocent babies in hope of killing Jesus. The fact this spectra had out-Heroded Herod paints a grotesque and fearful image in one's mind. Poe's allusions tell a great deal of the devastation of the events. Poe also indicates that the masqueraders were unprepared for this event, he alludes the Red Death to the coming of Jesus in Egypt. Allusions influence our thoughts just as much as words do, and Poe makes a great effort to allude the story in order to make great.

In addition to allusions, Poe also uses imagery to strengthen the tone of terror. An example of Poe's imagery is the blood-tinted panes of the seventh room. Blood has always portrayed death, and blood was the Red Death's Avatar. Ironically, what Prince Prospero was trying to escape sat at the window pane of the black chamber. Combining the black decorated room and blood-red panes, the colors form the hue of evil. Though blood fills one with dread, the clock of ebony in the back of the black chamber engulfs one in complete fright. Ebony, a very dark eerie brown, strikes ghastly thoughts into the masked guests' hearts, and the clock represents the guest's time to live sluggishly ticking away.

Even “the giddiest grew pale (p.15)”, and yielded to the clock's warning of the omnipresent death. The reader slowly becomes aware of the control of time on our life. The imagery in this short story constructs layers and layers of horrific images which totally absorbs the reader into the story itself.

However, Poe's uncanny ability to tap into the untold dreads with diction has made this story haunting. Poe utilizes the word pestilence in place of disease. A pestilence is a gory incurable disease, but “no pestilence had ever been so fatal (p.13)” as the one in “Masque of the Red Death”. This pestilence brutally murdered human life as the scarlet blood oozed out of every pore, shattered all life in half an hour. The “assembly of phantasms (p.17)” vividly described the guests, but the phrase does not depict what the guests are but as more as what they will become. The Red Death will ravage them for an eternity for “Death hold illimitable dominion over all (p.18)”. Poe's dictions foreshadow what will come to pass, and by doing this Poe makes the reader think about what will happen next.

Combining all the elements of other-worldly events, Poe weaves fantastic tales that captivates its reader, and never let's go. The “Masque of the Red Death” is not just a horror story. It tells of Poe's terrible past and his association with blood, and how he feels about death and its power.

The main characters have extraordinary powers. These children, endowed with different talents, such as the ability to fly, to create storms, transform, see through photos, and to create illusions, attend Bloor's Academy for the Gifted, where they are constantly in scuffles with the other endowed children, the ones that use their powers to spread evil. Charlie's mom is being hypnotize by Count Harken Badlock who was thought to be dead centuries ago that was resurrected by the Mirror of Amoret. Charlie and his friends go along way to stop Count Badlock. Olivia's mom, a famous actor distracts the guards that gourd the elevator. When Olivia gets in, there are 4 guards blocking her way from the Mirror of Amoret. She uses her power and makes a life like illusion of a fire in the carpet. She snatches the mirror, and goes to her house, but sees that Joshua Tulpin, Bloor's spy, is blocking their way. He magnetizes the mirror and tries to get it back, but the mirror falls. Lysander knocks down Joshua and runs to Olivia's house. Count Harken Badlock approaches the house and knocks down the door. Lysander and Tancred come out and use there mighty powers to smite thee and wreck up the entire house.

The children need to free Charlie's mom from the Count. The only person they could think of to help was the Red King himself. The problem is that he lived thousands of years ago. But through trust and friendship, Charlie gains the knowledge he needs to waken the spirit of the Red King, imprisoned forever in a tree, and with the help of Asa Pike, an unlikely friend who used to be against Charlie, he and his friends gain the power to banish Badlock back to his own time, and freed the Red King and Charlie's mom.All of Charlie's friends believed in each other, and it was through their incredible faith and trust in each other that they awoke the Red King and drove evil from their little corner of the world.

I feel that this is a magnificent book and I recommend you read it. It has enough action to read for hours upon hours. It's a book the entire family can enjoy it. There are heart stopping moments that will leave you breathless and suspense that will make you read on. That is why I recommend this book. Reading it will send you to a different world. Happy reading!!!

Louis Madelin, a high ranking historian, vividly describes Louis XIV in his essay Louis XIV, Epitome of His Times . In this article, Madelin states that Louis was “a king that reflected his times”. He noted that Louis XIV loved order in all actions and beings. Madelin explains that Louis was more convinced of divine right of kings more than anyone else had ever been. Louis XIV was positive that “the royal throne is not a throne to man, but the throne of God” and that a king is only answerable to God himself. At the same time, Madelin states that Louis XIV understood reason and in Louis's Memoirs Louis frequently states “Let common sense prevail”. Louis XIV loved his kingship greatly. Madelin notes that Louis calls his kingship a profession and that ”kings must find delight in his duties”.

Lord Acton, a professor of history at Cambridge, gives us his views in his article Louis XIV . Acton notes that “Louis XIV was by far the ablest man”. Acton describes how Louis would boost his men's moral by riding under fire. Acton states that Louis has had a sad love life. Mazarin, Louis XIV's minister, had Philip IV to agree to marry his daughter, Maria Theresa, in the Treaty of the Pyrenees, but Louis XIV loved Marie Mancini, Mazarin's youngest niece. Mazarin sent Marie away “in spite of the tears of Louis”. Acton states that Louis XIV had predominant authority over Europe for more than 10 years. Louis increased his land, recovered Alsace from Germany, and strengthened his army to 112,000 men, but through all of this the people of France were oppressed and impoverished. Louis XIV's interest was the “State, not the nation”.

Voltaire, a great historian and Enlightenment philosopher, portrays Louis XIV as the hero of the age in his essay The Age of Louis XIV . Voltaire states that because of Louis XIV's France the other nations became what they are today. Voltaire notes that Louis XIV was given the title of Great by the Council of Paris in 1680, but he thinks that “a man who has done great deeds inspires more reverence than any epithet”. Voltaire also notifies Louis XIV's love and delight in architecture and the arts. For example, Louis XIV founded the Academy of Sciences, built towns near Versailles, beautified cities, and built the Louvre. Voltaire states that not a single Roman palace has an entrance comparable to that of the Louvre's. He exclaims that Louis XIV did more good for his country than twenty of his predecessors together, and that all the things Louis did for France “still bears fruit”.

For most people, the extent of their knowledge of Louis XIV is nil. For this reason, reading essays and articles about Louis XIV, such as the ones by Madelin, Acton and Voltaire, is important to grasp the greatness of Louis XIV. The previous articles are substantial for a person desiring to learn about Louis XIV. Whenever one hears the name Louis XIV, it is likely that the majority of the people would be clueless as to who Louis is, and because what these three writers have to say is relevant, one would start learning by reading their essays.

Albert Sorel, who wrote Louis XIV, Arbitrary Despot , chose a subject contradicting the previous three. Sorel states that Louis XIV has abused and brought the downfall of the French monarchy, worn out his men, emptied the treasury, and left France crushed by war. He also notes that Louis XIV's revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which allowed Lutherans to freely practice there religion, marked the decline of the French monarchy.

Albert Sorel's article Louis XIV, Arbitrary Despot is not useful to the majority of people willing to learn about the greatness of Louis XIV, for it delves too much into the greatness of Louis's predecessors, England and how Louis XIV brought France into disarray. This in turn distracts the reader from the main focus of the essay, which is the greatness of Louis XIV and his France.

I have always known Louis XIV to have been a great man. However, while reading The Greatness of Louis XIV I learned what specifically happened in Louis XIV's life and how France impacted the world today. Church's book further strengthened my positive view on the greatness on Louis XIV. Personally, I would recommend this book because it gives incredibly detailed descriptions about Louis and his life.