1. The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
Feature Menu
Introducing the Selection
Literary Focus: Sound Effects
Reading Skills: Interpreting Meaning Through Oral Reading
Writing Focus: Think as a Reader/Writer
Tech Focus

2. The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
When are people most likely to sense that nature is “speaking” to them?

3. The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
Click on the title to start the video.

4. The Raven Introducing the Selection
Has something outside of you—an object in nature, an animal, a landscape—ever echoed your feelings so strongly that it seemed to “speak” to you? 4

5. The Raven Introducing the Selection
At midnight on a bleak December night, a weary student is studying in his room and mourning his dead love, Lenore.
Suddenly, he hears a tapping at his door.
He is filled with terror.
Is it only a visitor, or is it something more?
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6. The Raven Literary Focus: Sound Effects
Like a catchy song, “The Raven” has pleasing and familiar sound effects.
evocative rhythms
Once’ upon’ a mid’night drear’y
alliteration (repetition of consonant sounds)
While I nodded, nearly napping
clever rhymes
“On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.”
Then the bird said “Nevermore.”

7. The Raven Literary Focus: Sound Effects
Poe’s “The Raven” also contains less common sound effects.
internal rhymes: rhyme occurring within a line
“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary”
onomatopoeia: words whose sounds echo their sense or, in this case, alliteration achieving a similar echo
the “silken, sad, uncertain rustling” of curtains

8. The Raven Literary Focus: Sound Effects
Another sound effect Poe uses in this poem is the refrain, the repetition of a phrase or line, usually at the end of a stanza.
“. . . nothing more.”
“. . . nothing more.”
“. . . nothing more.”

9. The Raven Literary Focus: Sound Effects
As you read or listen to the poem, consider the purpose of Poe’s literary sound effects.
What is Poe trying to accomplish with the repetition of certain rhythms and sounds?
How do these sound effects help create the atmosphere of the poem?
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10. The Raven Reading Focus: Interpreting Meaning Through Oral Reading
Reading the poem aloud or listening to an oral reading draws your attention to Poe’s use of rhyme, onomatopoeia, and refrain.
As you read or listen, bear in mind that literary sound effects—just like movie sound effects—have a purpose.
Think about what Poe is trying to accomplish with the sound effects he creates in “The Raven.”

11. The Raven Reading Focus: Interpreting Meaning Through Oral Reading
Into Action In a chart like the one below, write down the sound effects in the poem. Determine what type each sound effect is.
Line and Example
Type of Sound Effect
internal rhyme
Line 1: dreary and weary
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12. The Raven Writing Focus: Think As a Reader/Writer
Find It in Your Reading Poe uses a regular rhyme scheme throughout the poem. Write down the end rhymes to see if the scheme continues.
“. . .while I pondered, weak and weary,” A
“. . . curious volume of forgotten lore—” B
“. . . suddenly there came a tapping” C
“. . . rapping at my chamber door,” B
“. . . tapping at my chamber door,” B
“. . . and nothing more.” B
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13. The Raven
Tech Focus
As you read, imagine how you might transform this spooky poem into a radio play.
What sound effects could you use to bring the poem’s mood to life on the air?
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14. The End

15. Meet the Writer

16. The Raven Meet the Writer
Edgar Allan Poe’s life was brief and mostly tragic. Born in 1809, he died at forty, two years after losing his young wife to tuberculosis.
Although “The Raven” earned him some fame and other writers admired his stories, Poe never managed to support himself with his writing.
more about the writer
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17. Build Background 17

18. The Raven Build Background
Before writing “The Raven,” Poe asked himself the question,
“Of all melancholy topics, what, according to the universal understanding of mankind, is most melancholy?”
His answer: death. He then decided that the most poetic version of melancholy is the death of a woman.

19. The Raven Build Background
Like much of Poe’s writing, the poem explores one aspect of the dark side of human nature– in this case, what Poe called . . .
“that species of despair which delights in self-torture.”

20. The Raven Build Background
“The Raven” gave Poe his first and only taste of fame in his lifetime. Published in 1845 in a New York newspaper, it was such a hit that both the poem and Poe’s name seemed to be on everyone’s lips. Yet Poe received only about ten dollars for his work.
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21. Read with a Purpose 21

22. The Raven Read with a Purpose
Read to discover how the meaning of a single word, nevermore, grows as it repeats throughout the poem.
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