Review List as many elements of “Gothic” literature that you can think of on your bat, based on our notes from Monday. Remember to include gothic settings and characters in your list. You should have at least six items. When you have finished making your list, you may use the black construction paper to cut out your hands for “wings.” Be prepared to share your thoughts.

The Pride of American Literature: “I think Edgar Poe is the most original American genius.” ~Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Defining the Man Behind the Mystery  Poe is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician.  Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry  Poe is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles.  Made very little money in his lifetime for his poetry and was generally quite poor

 Poe was plagued by the death of family and loved ones throughout his life  Lived with wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan  Poe was engaged several times  Poe did marry Virginia Clemm when he was 27, but she died of Tuberculosis in  The disease that had already claimed Poe’s mother, brother, and foster mother.  The January 1845 publication of “The Raven”.  Poe died on October 7, 1849 at the age of forty. The exact cause of Poe’s death remains a mystery.

Tales of the Macabre  His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Raven,” and “The Fall of the House of Usher.”  Wrote short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews.  inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre  made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician.  Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry

 The Raven  The Masque of the Red Death  The Cask of Amantillado  The Tell-Tale Heart  The Murders in Rue Morgue  The Fall of the House of Usher

 unity of effect :every element of a story should help create a single emotional impact.  He often used irony throughout his works to emphasis a point or to create an effect  Foreshadowing, or given the reader glimpses into a character’s though process or an upcoming event in the plot  Conflict: like all great “gothic” works, Poe is a master of conflict. Almost all of his gothic heroes are suffering from a type of conflict, be it internal or external  Setting: Poe utilizes gothic settings to set a “mood” for his works; this includes dark, somber settings where we know that something unfortunate is going to happen  Metaphor: a word or phrase for one thing that is used to refer to another thing in order to show or suggest that they are similar  Personification: giving human attributes to animal or inanimate objects (EX) The Raven

 Cause of death unknown  His attending physician wrote a letter in which he cryptically stated: “you are already aware of the malady of which Mr. Poe died.”  The newspapers in the days immediately following his death described his condition as “an attack of mania a potu” (drunkenness), “congestion of the brain,” and a chronic condition from which Poe had been suffering “for some years past.” Below are a few theories about Poe’s death and dates they were published Beating 1860s Cooping 1874 Epilepsy 1921 Dipsomania 1926 Heart 1970 Toxic Disorder 1970 Hypoglycemia 1977 Diabetes 1984 Alcohol Dehydrogenase Deficiency 1989 Porphyria 1992 Delirium Tremens 1996 Rabies 1997 Heart 1998 Murder (Beating) 1999 Epilepsy 1999 Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Edgar Allan Poe: A Look at the Writer

 First published in 1843, edition of The Saturday Evening Post.  study of the psychology of guilt, often paired in analysis with Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart".  In both, a murderer carefully conceals his crime and believes himself unassailable, but eventually breaks down and reveals himself, impelled by a nagging reminder of his guilt.  Readers immediately responded positively to the short fiction piece Themes in “The Black Cat” Doppelganger  Literally meaning, a "double goer,” is a paranormal double of a living person.  It also describes the sensation of having glimpsed oneself in one's own peripheral vision with no chance of the supposed phenomenon having been a reflection.  A doppelganger is often perceived as a harbinger of bad luck. In some traditions, a doppelganger seen by a person's relative or friend portends illness or danger while seeing one's own doppelgänger is said to be an omen of death. Guilt This ever-present feeling of guilt over the crime which has been committed leads the narrator to confession or insanity