|
Edgar Allan Poe
b. 1-19-1809; Boston, Massachusetts
d. 10-7-1849; Baltimore, MD
19th Century American author and creator of the American Gothic tale, detective fiction and master of mystery, Edgar Allan Poe, was one of the first American writers to become a major figure in world literature.
A poet, short story writer, editor, and literary critic, Poe's stories and poems reflect a fascination with mysterious, dreamlike, and, sometimes, macabre subjects. He is viewed as the inventor of the modern detective story.
Poe was born in Boston, orphaned at age three, expelled from West Point for gambling; was an alcoholic, and secretly wed his thirteen-year-old cousin in 1836. The Raven, published in 1845, made Poe famous. He death in Baltimore remains under suspicious circumstances.
Edgar Allen Poe is a common misspelling.
|
|
• EDGAR ALLAN POE POSTERS
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Edgar Allan Poe
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore ...
“The Raven”
Edgar Allan Poe is often called the father of the modern mystery story. He was truly one of America's most gifted poets, short story writers and critic. These lines from his famous poem “The Raven” are a good example of the of his, often terrifying works. Poe was born in 1809 in Boston. His parents both died before he was three. Young Edgar was raised by John Allan, a rich tobacco merchant in Richmond, Virginia. Edgar was an excellent student and went to the University of Virgina, but stayed only a year due to money problems. He next moved to Boston and joined the army. By this time, he had written his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), and had it printed at his own expense. Edgar then started writing short stories. His most productive years were from 1837 to 1845. But, despite his success as an editor and writer his family often went without enough food. Some of his best stories were in Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (1840) which included The Pit and the Pendalum and The Tell-Tale Heart. But as good as these stories were, they brought Poe little fame and money. Not until the publication of The Raven and Other Poems (1845) did he start to become well-known. Sadly, the last years of his life were tragic. His wife died in 1847, and in his grief, Poe developed a drinking problem. In October 1849 he was found lying unconscious, and he died four days later at age 40. the cause of his death remains unknown.
• more 19th Century American Authors
|
|
|
|
|
|
Edgar Allen Poe
Poster Text: Born in Boston on January 19, 1809, Edgar Poe lost both his parents by the time he was 3 years old. Tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife took the child in, and Poe took their last name as his middle name. He attended the University of Virginia where he was an excellent student. However, his foster father didn't send much money to live on, and Poe started gambling. His growing debts forced him to drop out after a year. In 1827, he published his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems. He joined the Army, and eventually John Allan helped him get an appointment to West Point. But after another arguement with Allan, Poe got himself discharged. In 1836, he married his cousin Virginia Clemm, who was just 13 years old. Poe developed a career as a writer, editor, and literary critic, although he wasn't famous or well-paid. That all changed after his poem “The Raven” was published in 1845. But his life took a tragic turn in 1847 when Virginia died of tuberculosis. According to some reports at the time Poe began drinking heavily, but there is evidence that these accounts were based on gossip and exaggration. Even his death is clouded in mystery and rumors. He was found on October 1, 1849, on the streets of Baltimore, sick, unconsious, and wearing someone else's clothes. He died four days later, without ever waking up enough to explain what happened. He cause of death is unknown. Today, Poe has influenced writers from H.G. Wells to Ray Bradbury. His work “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” is recognized as the first detective story ever written. Poe is also praised for his haunting, almost musical poems, as well as for his tales of psychological terror and the macabre.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Foreshadowing - hints at events to occur later.
The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.
The Cask of Anomtillado by Edgar Allan Poe
• more Literary Techniques posters
|
|
|
|
|
|
Alliteration - repeating the same consonant sound at the beginning of two or more words in close succession.
“While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly they came a tapping...” The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe
• more Literary Terms posters
|
|
|
|
|
|
Virginia Poe, née Clemm
b. 8-22-1822; Virginia
d. 1-30-1847; Fordham, NY (tuberculosis)
Edgar Allan Poe and Virginia Eliza Clemm were first cousins. It is thought that Virginia was the inspiration for many of Poe's works, especially Annabelle Lee. They were married when Poe was 27 and Virginia 13.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Original Burial Place of Edgar Allan Poe from October 9, 1849 until November 17, 1875,
Mrs. Maria Clemm, his mother-in-law lies upon his right and Virginia Poe, his wife, upon his left, under the monument erected to him in this cemetery |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Edgar Allan Poe Notecard
available at-
Amazon.com
|
|
|
• MeOnAPumpkin stencil software |
• “Never to suffer would never to have been blessed.”
• Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore ...
“The Raven”
• “They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.”
EDGAR ALLAN POE : BOOKS/VIDEO
Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe - single volume brings together all of Poe's stories and poems, and illuminates the diverse and multifaceted genius of one of the greatest and most influential figures in American literary history.
Edgar Allan Poe Audio CD - a classic collection of 20 of Poe's most terrifying tales performed by Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone.
Edgar Allan Poe : A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn - Renowned as the creator of the detective story and a master of horror, the author of “The Red Mask of Death,” “The Black Cat,” and “The Murders of the Rue Morgue,” Edgar Allan Poe seems to have derived his success from suffering and to have suffered from his success. “The Raven” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” have been read as signs of his personal obsessions, and “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Descent into the Maelstrom” as symptoms of his own mental collapse. Biographers have seldom resisted the opportunities to confuse the pathologies in the stories with the events in Poe's life. Against this tide of fancy, guesses, and amateur psychologizing, Arthur Hobson Quinn's biography devotes itself meticulously to facts. Based on exhaustive research in the Poe family archive, Quinn extracts the life from the legend, and describes how they both were distorted by prior biographies. [book description]
Biography - Edgar Allan Poe: The Mystery of Edgar Allen Poe (A&E DVD Archives) -
Famous Authors - Edgar Allan Poe Video -
Biography - Edgar Allan Poe VHS - He is the uncontested master of the macabre, a genius whose melancholy nature made his own life as tragic as one of his strange tales. Edgar Allan Poe's haunting poems and chilling stories established him as one of the most important men of American letters. But behind his popularity and artistic success was a personal life defined by broken hopes and failure. This extraordinary program tells Poe's complete story, from the death of his parents when he was three, to his tragic collapse on the street at age 40. Dramatic readings recall the devastation of his broken engagement and the loss of his child bride. And experts explore the bouts of depression and addiction that tormented the man and gave birth to his dark and brilliant art. Take an intimate look at one of literature's most complex and fascinating figures.
Edgar Allan Poe's - The Pit and the Pendulum (VHS, 1961)
-starring Vincent Price
Everyday Life in the 1800s: A Guide for Writers, Students, and Historians -The Everyday Life series helps writers, students and researchers save valuable time and bring richness and historical accuracy to their work. Each guide describes the food, clothes, customs, slang, occupations, religions, politics and other historical details that are so often difficult to find.
French poet and artist Charles Baudelaire translated Poe's work into French.
LINKS FOR LEARNING : EDGAR ALLAN POE
- PoeStories.com - an exploration of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe - story summaries, quotes, linked vocabulary words and definitions for educational reading, a short biography, a timeline of Poe's life, and links to other Poe sites.
- Edgar Allan Poe Bio- Wikipedia
- Poe Museum - provides a retreat into early 19th century Richmond where Edgar Allan Poe lived and worked. The museum features Poe's life and career by documenting his accomplishments with pictures, relics, and verse, and focusing on his many years in Richmond.
- Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore -
- Edgar Allan Poe, National Historic Site - Poe lived in Philadelphia from 1838-1844; the Spring Garden home where Poe, his wife Virginia, and his mother-in-law lived between 1843-44, is the only Philadelphia house to survive.
- Poe Cottage - The tiny Poe Cottage in the Bronx was the last home of the great American poet and author of early mystery stories, Edgar Allan Poe, .
- Edgar Allan Poe's Virtual Library - a one-page resource for interesting and significant Poe materials listed under subject headings.
- Edgar Allan Poe's Gutenberg free ebooks - a one-page resource for interesting and significant Poe materials listed under subject headings.
FYI - Poe may have had some inspiration for some of his stories based on reports of a strange “sleeping sickness” where the victims were unable to wake up. Between 1915 and 1926, an epidemic identified as encephalitis lethargica spread around the world. Investigators are finding evidence that the disease may have occurred earlier and inspired other stories - “Sleeping Beauty” and “Rip Van Winkle”.
|
