January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849

 Reasons to study poetry:  1. To learn creativity  2. To make yourself more well-rounded  3. To better understand yourself through understanding others.  4. Aesthetics (beauty)  5. History

 Born Edgar Poe in Boston, Mass.  Orphaned young; mother died shortly after father abandoned family  Taken in by John and Frances Allan of Richmond, VA, but never formally adopted  Attended University of VA for one semester  Enlisted in the army, failed as a cadet at West Point, parted ways with the Allans

 1827 – a collection of poems published, Tamerlane and Other Poems  Switched focus to prose, literary criticism  1835 – married Virgina Clemm, his 13-year-old cousin  January 1845 – published “The Raven”  1847 – Virginia died from Tuberculosis  Was planning to produce own journal, The Penn, but died before production  Cause of death is unknown; speculations: alcoholism, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, and heart disease

 Poe says poetry is the “rhythmical creation of beauty.” Beauty is the province of the poem. It is an immortal instinct that we have to reach for beauty.  Poe always lived in search of something within reach.

 Four techniques to obtain music and beauty:  1. Onomatopoeia  2. Alliteration  3. Strong rhythms and uncoventional metrical patterns  4. Repetition – dramatic effect, emphasis; helps create atmosphere

 Themes  1. an air of resignation to despair  2. romantic love – women are idealized  Famous works  “The Raven”  “Annabel Lee”  “Lenore”  “To Helen”  “A Dream Within a Dream”

 Main body of work:  Disdained longer forms  1. physical and emotional health not good  2. financial condition – had to make money and short stories the best way

 Short story rules  1. must be short enough to read in one sitting  2. must create one single effect  3. must not contain one word not adding to effect

 Three types  1. humorous ▪ Satire ▪ Exaggeration ▪ Bordering on ridiculous ▪ Purple Prose: take a simple situation and pile on one absurdity after another

 2. Detective ▪ Poe is the “father of the detective story” ▪ Elements ▪ Based on analysis and deduction ▪ Solution found in a step-by-step analysis of the crime ▪ Reader’s interest centered on how crime is committed ▪ Monsieur Auguste Dupin is Poe’s little French detective in those short stories. He is the literary father of Sherlock Holmes

 3. Horror ▪ Mainly achieved through mood and atmosphere. Primary to plot ▪ Accumulations of horrors piled one after another, rushing to a climax ▪ Reader held in suspense until the last possible second  Poe was obsessed with being entombed alive and also with being forgotten

 Famous works  The Fall of the House of Usher  The Tell-Tale Heart  The Purloined Letter  The Cask of Amontillado  The Pit and the Pendulum

 Poe was editor of Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine in Philadelphia when “Usher” was published on September 18,  Five months earlier: “The Haunted Palace” published in the Baltimore Museum.  “By ‘The Haunted Palace’ I mean to imply a mind haunted by phantoms – a disordered brain. A gifted mind becomes haunted by evil things and memories.”  Poe feared going insane and had many bad things to haunt his life

 Main characters: Madeline and Roderick Usher, the Narrator, the House  Conflict:  Man v. Man  Man v. himself (fear)  Man v. the elements  Point of View: 1 st person (narrator)

 Setting: House of Usher  actual location never given  Gloomy setting increases Usher’s depression, but also is an extension of his emotional state  Theme: Vulnerability of the Human Mind  Climax: revelation: put her in the tomb alive  Falling action: Narrator flees  Resolution: House and family dies

 Romantic Elements  Fascinations with antique  Mysterious  Exotic  Supernatural  Focus on Self

 Gothic Elements  House – bleak and remote  Thunderstorm  Tarn (lake) and misty vapors  Strangeness of people in the house… physical and psychological torment  Supernatural element often present  ZIGZAG – story of division and fragmentation: house and inhabitants