1. Edgar Allan Poe (1809 to 1849)

2. Cover follow main parts General introduction as literary figure About the life of Poe A panoramic glimpse of his works Representative works Poe’s achievements Points worth notice Poe’s status and influences

3. General introduction as literary figure: unique representative of nineteenth- century American romantics father of detective fiction, great master of horror tales most controversial and most misunderstood literary figure

4. About the life of Poe: Probably no other great writer in the whole history of American had a sadder and more tragic life than Edgar Allan Poe. (It demands our concerns since the often tragic circumstance of Poe’s life haunt his later writings). Through all his life, he had worked as a magazine editor; a poet, a short story teller, a critic and a lecturer. But he suffered poverty most of his life.

5. born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809. His parents were wandering theater players after his father left the family and his mother died the following year, Poe was taken care, though never formally adopted by John Allan, a Scottish-born trader.

6. moved to England in 1815,sent to the Manor House School and given a fine elementary education. a short period happy time with the Allans, but soon came into conflict with his foster father. entered the University of Virginia. There he made an excellent record as a scholar, but his social life was a miserable failure. He contracted large debts by drinking and gambling, and as a result he did not complete his studies.

7. a bitter quarrel,left Virginia and went to Boston in 1827, where he published his first work Tamerlane and other poems. It was then that Poe began to think of himself as a writer.

8. In 1827, served in the army and was dishonorably discharged in 1829. access to West Point. Quickly Poe was expelled from the school. For a farewell gift, his classmates raised enough money for the publication of a substantial volume of poetry, which include some of his early poems and two new ones-Israfel and To Helen. But these early volumes of poem did not win him reputation.

9. Poe married his cousin Virginia Clemm who was only 13 in1835. After the marriage Poe published his poem The Raven in 1844. As a dark poem of lost love, it was about an unhappy young man who sat alone in a room and conducted a curious dialogue with his midnight visitant-a raven, who never murmured anything other than “nevermore”. The poem brought him an immediate success and has remained one of his most enduring works.

10. editor of a number of prominent periodical: Gramham’s magazine, Evening Mirror, and The Saturday Museum. He revealed his insight and originality as a critic. His major ideas that concered literary criticism were best embodied in The Poetic Principle, The Philosophy of Composition and The Review of Hawthorn’s Twice-Told Tales. The short stories, he considers, must be of brevity, so as to ensure the totality of impression. The very first sentence ought to help to bring out the “single effect “ of the story. No word should be used which does not contribute to the “pre-established” design of the work. A tale should reveal some logical truth with “the fullest satisfaction”, and should end with the last sentence, leaving a sense of finality with the reader.

11. The remaining years of his life were a struggle with poverty depression, poor health caused by drinking bouts and grief over the early death of his wife who died of tuberculosis in1847. On October,1849, Poe was picked up unconscious on the street of Baltimore, and died the following day in the city hospital at the age of 40.

12. Brief on Gothic genre and Detective genre: ： Poe is considered to be the very person to introduce the Gothic Genre into American literature. Tales of Terror, later on called gothic stories. Horace Walpole, named his book The castle of Otranto' a gothic story'. 1764

13. The gothic stories dealt mainly with crime together with mystery. The setting was usually in an old castle or in a ruin. The characters of the story were either naive lovers or nuns in a monastery, who had sinful thoughts, and therefore had to be punished by a Divine Power. This Power had the intention to make the sinful persons realize how close life was to death. This was often done by introducing them with all sorts of supernatural powers. The castle or ruin itself was therefore also one of the main characters of the novel. Human characters in a gothic tale always died of corruption and disorder of mental health.

14. after a certain radical change Gothic novel turn into detective novel The first actual detective story :Edgar Allan Poe ‘s The murders in the rue Morgue,1841 first detective-hero : Chevalier C. Auguste Dupin

15. differences in detective story environment changed radically ： the castles surrounded by a gloomy forest were now made into a recognizable daily setting. Characters ： with the rational way of approaching a crime, also given a possibility to survive. distinctive moral : the gothic novel as a genre that is trying to keep the people aware of God's presence and of the danger of choosing the wrong path in life. The detectivenovel on the other hand, condemns crime-actions and stands for the justification of human rights.

16. A panoramic glimpse of his works Poetry Al Aaraaf (1829) - 24KB Alone (1830) - 1KB An Enigma (1848) - 1KB Annabel Lee (1849) - 3KB The Bells (1849) - 6KB Bridal Ballad (1837) - 2KB The City In The Sea (1831) - 3KB The Coliseum (1833) - 3KB The Conqueror Worm (1843) - 2KB A Dream (1827) - 1KB A Dream Within A Dream (1827) - 2KB Dreamland (1844) - 3KB Dreams (1827) - 2KB Eldorado (1849) - 2KB Elizabeth (1850) - 1KB Eulalie (1845) - 2KB Evening Star (1827) - 2KB Fairy-Land (1829) - 2KB For Annie (1849) - 5KB The Happiest Day, The Happiest Hour (1827) - 2KB The Haunted Palace (1839) - 3KB Hymn (1835) - 1KB Israfel (1831) - 3KB The Lake. To -- (1827) - 1KB Lenore (1831) - 2KB The Raven (1845) - 11KB Romance (1829) - 1KB Serenade (1850) - 2KB The Sleeper (1831) - 3KB Song (1827) - 1KB Sonnet- To Science (1829) - 1KB Sonnet- To Zante (1837) - 1KB Spirits Of The Dead (1827) - 2KB Stanzas (1827) - 3KB Tamerlane (1827) - 13KB To -- (1830) - 1KB To -- -- (1829) - 2KB To F-- (1835) - 1KB To F--S S. O--D (1835) - 1KB To Helen (1831) - 1KB To Helen (1848) - 4KB To M-- (1830) - 1KB To M.L.S. (1847) - 1KB To My Mother (1849) - 1KB To One In Paradise (1834) - 2KB To The River -- (1829) - 1KB Ulalume (1847) - 6KB A Valentine (1846) - 2KB The Valley Of Unrest (1831) - 2KB

17. Articles Criticism (1850) - 16KB The Daguerreotype (1840) - 4KB Marginalia (1844-49) - 38KB

18. Short-Stories The Angel Of The Odd- An Extravaganza (1850) - 22KB The Assignation (1834) - 28KB The Balloon-Hoax (1850) - 31KB Berenice (1835) - 19KB The Black Cat (1843) - 23KB Bon-Bon (1850) - 37KB The Business Man (1850) - 21KB The Cask Of Amontillado (1846) - 15KB The Colloquy Of Monos And Una (1850) - 22KB The Conversation Of Eiros And Charmion (1850) - 13KB A Descent Into The Maelstrom (1841) - 39KB The Devil In The Belfry (1850) - 20KB Diddling - Considered As One Of The Exact Sciences (1850) - 24KBDiddling - Considered As One Of The Exact Sciences (1850) - 24KB The Domain Of Arnheim (1850) - 37KB The Duc De l'Omlette (1850) - 9KB Eleonora (1850) - 14KB The Facts In The Case Of M. Valdemar (1845) - 22KB The Fall Of The House Of Usher (1839) - 44KB Four Beasts In One- The Homo-Cameleopard (1850) - 18KB Hop-Frog Or The Eight Chained Ourang-Outangs (1850) - 22KBHop-Frog Or The Eight Chained Ourang-Outangs (1850) - 22KB How To Write A Blackwood Article (1850) - 23KB The Imp Of The Perverse (1850) - 14KB The Island Of The Fay (1850) - 12KB King Pest - A Tale Containing An Allegory (1835) - 29KB Landor's Cottage - A Pendant To "The Domain Of Arnheim" (1850) - 29KBLandor's Cottage - A Pendant To "The Domain Of Arnheim" (1850) - 29KB The Landscape Garden (1850) - 22KB Ligeia (1838) - 37KB Lionizing (1850) - 12KB Literary Life Of Thingum Bob, Esq. - Late Editor Of The Goosetherumfoodle - By Himself (1850) - 46KBLiterary Life Of Thingum Bob, Esq. - Late Editor Of The Goosetherumfoodle - By Himself (1850) - 46KB Loss Of Breath - A Tale Neither In Nor Out Of "Blackwood" (1850) - 29KBLoss Of Breath - A Tale Neither In Nor Out Of "Blackwood" (1850) - 29KB The Man Of The Crowd (1850) - 21KB The Man That Was Used Up - A Tale Of The Late Bugaboo And Kickapoo Campaign (1850) - 23KBThe Man That Was Used Up - A Tale Of The Late Bugaboo And Kickapoo Campaign (1850) - 23KB The Masque Of The Red Death (1842) - 14KB Mellonta Tauta (1850) - 33KB Mesmeric Revelation (1850) - 23KB Metzengerstein (1850) - 22KB Morella (1850) - 13KB Morning On The Wissahiccon (1850) - 12KB Ms. Found In A Bottle (1833) - 24KB Mystification (1850) - 19KB Never Bet The Devil Your Head - A Tale With A Moral (1850) - 23KBNever Bet The Devil Your Head - A Tale With A Moral (1850) - 23KB The Oblong Box (1850) - 27KB The Oval Portrait (1850) - 8KB The Pit And The Pendulum (1842) - 35KB The Power Of Words (1850) - 9KB A Predicament (1838) - 21KB The Premature Burial (1850) - 33KB The Purloined Letter (1845) - 43KB Scenes From Politian (1835) - 41KB Shadow- A Parable (1850) - 6KB Silence - A Fable (1837) - 8KB Some Words With A Mummy (1850) - 38KB The Spectacles (1850) - 57KB The Sphinx (1850) - 11KB The System Of Dr. Tarr And Prof. Fether (1850) - 41KBThe System Of Dr. Tarr And Prof. Fether (1850) - 41KB Tale Of Jerusalem (1850) - 9KB A Tale Of The Ragged Mountains (1850) - 24KB The Tell-Tale Heart (1843) - 12KB "Thou Art The Man" (1850) - 35KB The Thousand-And-Second Tale Of Scheherazade (1850) - 47KBThe Thousand-And-Second Tale Of Scheherazade (1850) - 47KB Three Sundays In A Week (1850) - 15KB Von Kempelen And His Discovery (1850) - 17KB Why The Little Frenchman Wears His Hand In A Sling (1850) - 14KBWhy The Little Frenchman Wears His Hand In A Sling (1850) - 14KB William Wilson (1839) - 47KB X-Ing A Paragrab (1850) - 15KB

19. Detective The Murders In The Rue Morgue (1841) - 81KB The Mystery Of Marie Roget - A Sequel To "The Murder In The Rue Morgue" (1850) - 118KBThe Mystery Of Marie Roget - A Sequel To "The Murder In The Rue Morgue" (1850) - 118KB The Purloined Letter (1845) - 43KB Horror Berenice (1835) - 19KB The Cask Of Amontillado (1846) - 15KB The Fall Of The House Of Usher (1839) - 44KB The Masque Of The Red Death (1842) - 14KB Morella (1850) - 13KB The Oblong Box (1850) - 27KB The Oval Portrait (1850) - 8KB The Pit And The Pendulum (1842) - 35KB The Premature Burial (1850) - 33KB Von Kempelen And His Discovery (1850) - 17KB

20. The numerous works showed above indicates that Poe is one of the most prolific writers. Naturally it is impossible for all of his works to be delicate. In fact, Poe always hurried his works in order to earn money for living. James Rusell once wrote about Poe:“Three fifth of him genius and two fifth sheer fudge.”

21. A certain genius: Poetry anthology: Tamerlane, 1827 帖木儿 Al Aaraaf, 1829 艾尔阿拉夫 Poems ， 1831 诗集 Poetry: The Raven, 1845 乌鸦 To Hellen ， 1845 致海伦 Short story: Tales of the grotesque and Arabesque, 1840 怪诞奇异故事集 Tales,1840 故事集 The Fall of the House of Usher ， 1839 厄舍古屋的倒塌 Lifeia ， 1840 莱琪儿 The Purloined letter, 1844 被盗的信件 The Gold Bug, 1847 金甲虫 The Muders in the Rue Morgue, 1847 莫格街谋杀案

22. Poe’s achievements: Poe achieved a lot in the three areas of work as a poet, short- story writer and critic As a poet, Poe thinks that poetry should appeal only to the sense of beauty, not truth, and sets himself against realistic details in poetry. And these represent Poe’s insist on the theory of “art for art’s sake”. He makes good use of a number of poetic devises to create a mood appropriate to the theme of his poems. No other American poet ever surpassed his ability in the use of English as a medium of pure musical and rhythmic beauty. The sound of his words casts a magic spell over the reader.

23. As a short story writer, Poe is a fascinating man of imagination interested in deduction and introduction. His stories always deal with paranoia rooted in personal psychology, physical or mental obsession, feverish fantasies, the cosmos as source of horror and inspiration. In Poe’s stories, the use of the past is darker, more ominous, more Gothic, and lies on his heroes and heroines with a heavier weights than it does in other Romantic stories. Mistakes are filled with assassination and non-escape, with violence and death. His fictional characters are mostly neurotics

24. He is interested in the deviousness of the human soul and the unconscious motives of human beings. He sought to frighten his readers or to entertain them, and thus introduce a full range of elements that straddled the line between science and the supernatural. One of his most vivid technique is the story’s tone. Poe chose details that highlights the terrors of near madness. His description of gloomy Usher House and the fissure that seems to extend from the house’s roof to the sullen waters of the tarn is especially distinctive. He is regarded as the father of psychoanalytic criticism and the detective story. Poe’s technique of psychological inquiry have informed countless sleuths, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.

25. As the first major American critic, Poe lays emphasis upon the value of art, form and unity. He advocated the “single effect” theory,which plays an active roles in the development of the analytical approach, a method typical of modern criticism.

26. Points worth notice: On the one hand Poe attach importance to imagination and fancy while on the other hand, he was also a full rational human being, logical to a fault, with an intuitive faculty and a sixth sense impossible to define. Some people thought that Poe’s perfect logic in detective story was in connection with his natural interest in puzzles, word games and secret codes.

27. Poe’s status and influences: Although Poe is a great genius, but he is not recognized in his own days. Ironically it is in Europe that Poe enjoys respect and welcome. His work is unique and stands alone among all other American writers. When Poe was growing up, English romanticm was at full tide and American writers too were producing Romantic poetry and fiction. Poe’s Romanticism, that is, in many ways, a reflection of his life, takes a special form. His is an exploratory world of dream and nightmare. He is also interested in redeeming and refining language. He is an advocate of art for art’s sake. So he is called the “great literary engineer”.

28. Actually Edgar Allan Poe’s influence on the literature of the 19th century and after is astonishing. American writers like T.S.Eliot and William Faulkner all own a lot to him. A recent study has showed an interesting fact, that modern Chinese masters like Lu xun and Guo mo-ruo all felt Poe’s presence on the Chinese literary scene of the early decades of this century: they read and commented upon his works. We wish further research will be done.

29. Thank You and wish you enjoy.