1. By Edgar Allan Poe

2. GOTHIC LITERATURE  The story is set in bleak or remote places  The plot involves macabre (grim, horrible, gruesome) or violent incidents  Characters are in psychological and/or physical torment  A supernatural or otherworldly element is often present

3. SUMMARY  A lonely man tries to ease his "sorrow for the lost Lenore," by distracting his mind with old books of "forgotten lore."

4.  He is interrupted while he is "nearly napping," by a "tapping on [his] chamber door." As he opens up the door, he finds "darkness there and nothing more."

5.  Into the darkness he whispers, "Lenore," hoping his lost love had come back, but all that could be heard was "an echo [that] murmured back the word 'Lenore!'"

6.  With a burning soul, the man returns to his chamber, and this time he can hear a tapping at the window lattice. As he "flung [open] the shutter," "in [there] stepped a stately Raven," the bird of ill-omen.

7.  The raven perched on the bust of Pallas, the goddess of wisdom in Greek mythology, above his chamber door.

8.  The man welcomes the raven, and is afraid that the raven will be gone in the morning, "as [his] Hopes have flown before"; however, the raven answers, "Nevermore."

9.  The man smiled, and pulled up a chair, interested in what the raven "meant in croaking, ‘Nevermore.’" The chair, where Lenore once sat, brought back painful memories.

10.  The man asks the Raven for his name, and surprisingly it answers, and croaks "Nevermore."

11.  The man knows that the bird does not speak from wisdom, but has been taught by "some unhappy master," and that the word "nevermore" is its only "stock and store."

12.  The mysterious raven prompts the speaker to ask questions about Lenore. The raven responds to each question -- including the answer whether the speaker will ever see Lenore again -- with the single word “nevermore,” leaving the speaker broken and devoid of hope.

13.  The poem explores how grief and loneliness can turn to madness.

14. LITERARY DEVICES  Poets use sound devices – such as alliteration, assonance, consonance, repetition, internal rhyme, and onomatopoeia – to give a musical quality to their writing.

15.  Poe uses all these devices to create a hypnotic effect that draws the reader into the speaker’s world.  Poe persuades readers to abandon their notions of reality and to accept the speaker’s demented vision.

16.  And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me -- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating, "'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door, Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door. This it is and nothing more.“  Alliteration: silken, sad, uncertain, rustling; fantastic terrors; still …stood; ‘Tis some visitor … entrance

17.  And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me -- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating, "'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door, Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door. This it is and nothing more.“  Assonance: uncertain rustling; purple curtain; terrors never felt;

18.  And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me -- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating, "'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door, Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door. This it is and nothing more.“  Consonance: silken …uncertain; that … heart; visitor…chamber door

19.  And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me -- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating, "'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door, Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door. This it is and nothing more.“  Repetition: Some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door, some … visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door

20.  And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me -- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating, "'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door, Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door. This it is and nothing more.“  Internal rhyme: uncertain/curtain; beating/repeating/entreating; thrilled/filled

21.  And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me -- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating, "'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door, Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door. This it is and nothing more.“  Onomatopoeia: rustling

22. SYMBOLISM  The effect of the raven’s visit, symbolized by its shadow, has been to permanently darken the speaker’s soul.  It represents the speaker’s permanent state of madness and despair.