EDGAR ALLAN POE 1809 1849 INTRODUCTION January 19

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EDGAR ALLAN POE 1809 -1849

EDGAR ALLAN POE 1809 -1849

INTRODUCTION • January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849 in Boston, MA. • Best

INTRODUCTION • January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849 in Boston, MA. • Best known for his poetry and short stories (one of the earliest practitioners). • Mystery • Macabre • Credited as the inventor of detective fiction and as contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. • Was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing along, which resulted in a financially difficult life and career.

POE’S LIFE • Born in Boston, the second child of two actors. • Father

POE’S LIFE • Born in Boston, the second child of two actors. • Father abandoned his family in 1810 (Poe was only 1 year old) and his mother died the following year. • After he was orphaned, Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan of Richmond, VA. • Poe was with the Allan family well into adulthood. He and his father often clashed over debts, including gambling debts and the cost of Poe’s secondary education. • Attended University of Virginia, but left after one semester because of financial hardship.

POE’S LIFE (CON’D) • Joined the army in 1827 and began his publishing career

POE’S LIFE (CON’D) • Joined the army in 1827 and began his publishing career with an anonymous collection of Poems credited only to a “Bostonian. ” • Poe later failed as a cadet officer at West Point, declaring a wish to be a poet and a writer. • Poe switched focus to prose and developed his own style of literary criticism in working for literary journals and magazines. • In Richmond in 1836, Poe married Virginia Clemm, his 13 year old cousin (Poe was 27). Many believe Virginia to be the real Annabel Lee. • In January 1845, Poe published The Raven to instant success. • His wife died 2 years later of Tuberculosis. • Poe died in Baltimore on October 7, 1849, at age 40; cause of his death is unknown and has been variously attributed to alcohol, drugs, brain congestion, heart disease, cholera, rabies, suicide, TB, and other agents.

LITERARY STYLE AND THEMES • GOTHICISM: Best known for fiction Gothic works. • DEATH:

LITERARY STYLE AND THEMES • GOTHICISM: Best known for fiction Gothic works. • DEATH: His most recurring themes deal with questions of death, including its physical signs, the effects of decomposition, premature burial, reanimation of the dead, and mourning. • LOST LOVE • Works evoke emotions of terror, passion and/or horror. • Psychological intensity (think of the sublime) • Experimented with sound and rhythm. • Technical devices: • Repetition • Internal rhyme • Parallelism • Alliteration • Assonance