Question of the Day 9/13 What motivated Poe to write “The Raven”

Question of the Day 9/14 What does the raven symbolize in the poem?

Question of the Day 9/15 What indication is there that the man may have dreamt the entire episode? What things contribute to the “mood” of the story?

Stanza 1 The narrator is someone who feels tired and weak and who has possibly stored to fall asleep while reading in the middle of a gloomy December night. He passes the time by reading a strange book. Suddenly, he thinks he hears someone at his door. He explains to himself that it is nothing more than a late visitor knocking at his door.

Stanza 2 It is December, and a fireplace had been lit, but now the fire was going out, and it cast an eerie glow. To escape his sadness, the speaker has been reading to find something in his books that would take his mind off his lost love, Lenore. He reveals that Lenore has died when he says that the angels call her by name

Stanza 3 The sound of the curtains as they move makes him nervous. The speaker tries to calm down by telling himself twice that the tapping noise (introduced in stanza one) is only the sound of a visitor knocking on his door and “nothing more.”

Stanza 4 The speaker calls out to the supposed visitor. But when he opens the door he finds only “darkness there and nothing more”

Stanza 5 He stands looking out of his door, transfixed by the “darkness,” the “silence,” and the “stillness” while his imagination increased. Finally he whispered the name of his deceased lover, “Lenore,” and he heard it echoed in the night.

Stanza 6 . He returns to his room, but the tapping sound resumes, even louder, and the speaker determines this time to investigate the window.

Stanza 7 The speaker finally reveals the source of the mysterious tapping noise—a bird. Upon opening the window, the speaker discovers a Raven who flies in and sits on top of the speaker’s “bust of Pallas.”(goddess of wisdom).

Stanza 8 The bird’s dramatic presence makes the speaker forget his sadness for a while. He compares the bird to a Lord (royalty). He also suggest that the bird may come for the underworld (land of the dead).

Stanza 9 & 10 He talks about the bird’s reply to his previous question making no sense, but then he asks another questions in which the bird’s reply does make sense. He asks the bird if he will leave him, just as other friends have. The bird replies “nevermore”

Stanza 11 & 12 This time the speaker is startled to the Raven’s answer because he thinks it might make sense. The narrator says to comfort himself that the raven has only been taught this one word by a previous master.

Stanza 13 The speaker thinks about Lenore as he sits in her chair to speak to the raven

Stanza 14 The speaker thinks he smells Lenore’s perfume, and he thinks it is a gift from the angels. Most likely, he smells her because he sits in her chair. He starts to become depressed again and asks the angels to give him a potion of forgetfulness (nepenthe)

Stanza 15 & 16 He gets mad at the raven for the response to his last question and accuses the raven of being evil or the devil. However, he ask him another question - Is the balm in Gilead? (meaning will he ever get over his sorrow). The raven tells him NO. He then gets upset again, but ask the raven yet another question. “will he see Lenore again (afterlife)?” The raven responds NO

Stanza 17 The speaker is at his angriest and ask the bird to leave. The speakers has decided to continue to be alone in his miserable state of mind.

Stanza 18 He ends the poem by telling us that the raven (which symbolizes death and evil) did not leave and still sits above his door. It still sits on the bust of Pallas (knowledge) indicating that death and evil have overpowered the speakers wisdom and his ability to get over the death of Lenore

The narrator attributes qualities of human thought and intentions to the raven (personification). What does the narrator believe the raven is saying or doing to him? How does the narrator feel about the bird's presence in his study?

Summary Write a summary of the story. Make sure to include the key elements of the plot. In addition, explain how this story closely mirrors Poe’s life (do not just say because his wife past away) Processing On the top of your summary use a plot diagram or flow map and label each part as (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution > put the stanza number next to the parts)