Read Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum” You may have read this story in a lesson in the unit. If you did, take some time to review the story. If you have not read it, read it now. As you read the story, take notes on the following points: the circumstances of the narrator’s imprisonment the condition of the narrator’s prison the narrator’s reaction to his prison and torture historical references or allusions that appear in the story

"The Pit and the Pendulum" tells the story of a man who was tried and condemned by the sponge inquisition and although he is not fully convinced of what is reality and illusion, he feels that he has been condemned to death. He feels stunned by it and strongly confused and fearful for the sentence he received and for the unpredictability of what will happen ahead.

The convict describes his prison with a strong synesthesia, he reveals all the psychological and physical terror that has passed, which disturbed him deeply amid hallucinations, sounds, images that appeared around him, bruises and a strong mental confusion. The prison is a claustrophobic, dark and frightening space, built with the aim of torturing and going crazy.

During the torture section, the convict is tied under a pendulum that contains a very sharp blade. The pendulum swings from side to side very slowly and is above the prisoner's body, but he realizes that as time passes, the pendulum descends more and more, even cutting his chest slowly and agonizingly. However, the prisoner manages to free himself from the ropes, but realizes that the walls are heating up quickly leaving his breathing, already weak, increasingly weak. In addition, the walls are coming together making the prisoner have no choice but to jump into the well built right in the middle of his prison.

The well and pendulum shown in the story are strong references to the methods of torture used by Spanish inquisitors who wanted to kill their victims in a slow and agonizing manner.

overnment is strong when they have the ability to persuade those they govern to believe government has enough power to force them or should be forcing them to do government’s will.

when enough of the citizenry do not believe government can force them or should force them to do its bidding, government has lost or will lose its strength and power to coerce.

when enough of the citizenry do believe government can force or should force them to do its bidding, they become passive at the least or actively pro-government and repeat government’s own rhetoric to pass on what they have been persuaded by government’s propaganda.

a true majority isn’t always needed to govern or to stop government. many times all that is needed is a strong minority. if a determined 30% of the population rises up against government in a concerted effort to bring it down, this size minority usually will succeed as long as those actively opposing the minority are less in force than the minority. so if 41% of the population sits at home watching tv rooting for one side or the other, they don’t matter. it’s the active parties who make a difference.

the answer is academic paper

and the second should be college professor