Edgar Allan Poe example essay topic

Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19th, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. Poe became an orphan at an early age of two years old, his mother died. His father had disappeared just before his mother's death. Edgar was raised as an orphan by Frances Allan, and her husband John Allan in Richmond, Virginia. Edgar spent almost seven years with the Allan family. He also attended a boarding school in England during this time.

Edgar began to gamble while away at school. He was known, too, for a drinking addiction. Edgar had a peculiar custom with his name. He was never formally adopted by the Allan family, which was entirely his parent's decision. Poe was disappointed by this fact.

For this reason, during most of his life Edgar did not include "Allan" in his name. His own words were that the name, "was not his and he did not deserve it until he was formally adopted". The most he ever acknowledged the fact he was adopted was by adding "A". to his name. It was not until after his death that "Edgar Allan Poe" became the name that was mot popularly used. When Edgar turned eighteen he went to Boston and published his first set of poems. Shortly after this Edgar enlisted in the army.

After two years of service, Edgar visited his foster father John, to learn that his foster mother had died. John soon remarried, and Edgar lost all hope of any further support from him. Edgar left the army after deciding that it was not the proper career for him. Poe felt that his life by this point was headed downhill. In 1831, Edgar published another set of poems. He was now living with his Aunt Maria Clem m and his cousin Virginia.

Edgar never shook his gambling habits and was in fear of imprisonment because of debt. He was selling tales to journals but not getting paid much. Poe finally got a break in 1835 when he was hired as the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger located in Richmond, Virginia. Poe decided to marry his cousin Virginia in 1836.

He moved with Virginia and Maria to New York the next year. The reason Poe made this move is unclear but it was probably an attempt to find better work. Poe ended up in Philadelphia where he enjoyed his greatest years. Poe found joy in these years most of all because they were fruitful and relaxed. In 1844 Poe went back to New York where he started his own journal. In 1847 Poe.'s wife Virginia died of tuberculosis.

Some would later say this was the last straw for Poe, since he rapidly fell apart after her death. Poe returned to Richmond in 1849, although he still wanted to publish his own journal. Poe soon set out again to visit his aunt in New York with hopes for a better future. Poe never made it farther that Baltimore, where he died in what was reported as delirium of. congestion of the brain...

Poe was buried in a Presbyterian cemetery next to his grandfather. Despite all of these problems he faced, Poe persevered, and in the end created some of the best-known literary works in America. Now you may be wondering how, with all of the adversities he faced, he still managed to write some of the best literature in America. Actually, though, it was all the adversities he faced in his life that made Poe's writing style the one we all know today. Poe wrote one of his most famous poems, "The Raven" in 1845.

One of the strangest things about this poem is the lack of ideal. Some argue that this absence is the "Philosophy of Composition". 3 Poe started to write the poem having the idea of making it as melancholy as possible. No one really knows how he started or when he finished the poem. Some think that he wrote the entire poem in a feverish delusion. They think that Poe would write as soon as an idea had entered his mind.

Some say that Poe just sat and wrote, as if in a trance and would not stop until his project was complete. Other people say that the time it took Poe was much longer and drawn out. They think that the poem might have been finished for about ten years before it was actually published. In an essay, Poe stated that writing a poem is a methodical process. Poe claimed that the end was written first, and the rest was filled in.

Investigations cause doubt in the truthfulness in this because it doe not seem that most of Poe.'s work was written in this fashion. There is another poem titled "The Raven" written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Some think Poe based his own poem on Coleridge's writings. People see a relation between the two poems because they both have the same melancholy tone. The poem by Coleridge seems to have a bit more anger however. Coleridge's poem is about a raven that has its nest destroyed and its babies killed.

The tree it was living in is cut down and made into a ship. This is the part where the raven gets its revenge. The raven follows the ship all the way out to sea. After the ship has been traveling for a while it encounters trouble. When then. see. from the view of the raven that the entire crew dies and the ship is wrecked. This gives some sort of satisfaction to the Raven.

So, in the end the raven gets revenge on people who harmed it. We are hinted that the poem is about murder through the references to Dickens and Godwin. In this case, the narrator is both the culprit and detective. The purpose of the loss of the lady, who is named Lenore, is to give the reader a feeling of "mournful and never-ending remembrance". The narrator questions this bird he encounters and gets only one answer, "nevermore". The raven then perches on a bust of Pallas and the narrator sees this as a symbol that Lenore will never exist again and it is his fault.

Poe states another purpose of the poem in the second line of the third stanza. He is trying to depict a mind that is "filled with fantastic terrors". One way that Poe achieves this goal is giving even the slightest detail. He describes many eerie items in the bedroom chamber. The way he writes it, you feel like you have entered the room with the narrator, and experience the same fear. Using this type of effect is also known as figurative language.

Lenore could very easily be thought of his wife, Virginia, who he was still heartbroken over. THe longing for shown for "Lenore" proves that. Poe's battles might have been worked my a possible Heroin addiction. All the different events that happened to him throughout his life all brought about his writing style though.

His dark and dreary poems and stories all could reflect on his life in one point in time or another. Poe will forever be known as a great american author. Carlson, Eric W. Critical Essays on: Edgar Allan Poe. Boston, Massachusetts: G.K. Hall & Co., 1987. Page 5 Thompson, G.R. Poe: Essays and Reviews.

New York, New York: The Library of America, 1984. Page 4 Bloom, Harold. Modern Critical Interpretations: The Tales of Poe. New York, Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1987. Page 3 Bloom, Harold. Modern Critical Views: Edgar Allan Poe.

New York: Chelsea House, 1984. Page 3 Bloom, Harold. Bloom.'s Major Short Story Writers. Broom all, PA: Chelsea House, 1999. Page 5 Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism, Vol. 16 Page 4 Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism, Vol. 1 Page 4.