Free Essays on Poe

Many authors have made great contributions to the world of literature. Mark Twain introduced Americans to life on the Mississippi. Thomas Hardy wrote on his pessimistic views of the Victorian Age. Another author that influenced literature is Edgar Allan Poe. Poe is known as the father of the American short story and father of the detective story. To understand the literary contributions of Edgar Allan Poe, one must look at his early life, his literary life, and a summary of his famous works. "Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston'' (Inglis 505) "on January 19, 1809'' (Asselineau 409). He was born to a southern family that were in a traveling company of actors (Inglis 505). His father, David Poe, was from a Baltimore family. He was an actor by profession and a heavy drinker. Soon after Edgar Allan Poe was born, he left his family. Poe's mother, Elizabeth Arnold Poe, was a widow at the age of eighteen. Two years after his birth, she died of tuberculosis (Asselineau 409). When his mother d ied, Poe was adopted by John Allan (Perry XI) at the urging of Mr. Allan's wife. In 1815, John Allan moved his family to England. While there, Poe was sent to private schools (Asselineau 410). In the spring of 1826, Poe entered the University of Virginia. There he studied Spanish, French, Italian, and Latin. He had an excellent scholastic record. He got into difficulties almost at once. Mr. Allan did not provide him with the money to pay for his fees and other necessities. Poe was confused and homesick. He learned to play cards and started drinking. Soon he was in debt in excess of two thousand dollars. Poe discovered that he could not depend upon Allan for financial support. His foster father refused to pay his debts, and Poe had to withdraw from the University (Asselineau 410). In May of 1827, Poe enlisted in the army as a common soldier. He did this under the name of Edgar A. Perry. He was stationed on Sullivan's Island in Charleston Harbor for over a yea... Free Essays on Poe Free Essays on Poe Edgar Allan Poe era un predominio y una figura altamente influyente en literatura del mundo. Mucho del notability de Poe se basa en sus historias cortas ingeniosas y profundas, poemas, y teorà ­as crà ­ticas. La manera innovadora que à ©l escribià ³ establecià ³ un pretense de cà ³mo la forma corta en poesà ­a y la ficcià ³n debe ser, que es una razà ³n ella mira Poe en historias literarias y manuales como el arquitecto de la historia corta moderna. Era el genio particular de Poe que en su trabajo à ©l dio a forma artà ­stica consumada a sus obsesiones personales y a las de generaciones literarias anteriores, en el mismo tiempo que creaba las nuevas formas que proporcionaron medios de la expresià ³n para los artistas futuros. Edgar Allan Poe fue llevado a los padres pobres del agente. Su padre David era agente medio y un bebedor pesado que abandonà ³ a su hijo y esposa y desaparecido por siempre. Dijeron su madre Elizabeth, por otra parte, para haber sido actriz carismtica y talentosa. Elizabeth murià ³ de tuberculosis en diciembre de 1811. Edgar Poe no era absolutamente tres, sino recordà ³ siempre su sangre el vomitar de la madre y siendo llevado de à ©l por siempre por los hombres siniestros vestidos en negro. Era su muerte repentina que fue dicha para haber combado Poe para el resto de su vida. Despuà ©s de la muerte de su madre Poe fue tomado en el hogar de Juan y de Frances Allan - por lo tanto su nombre medio. En Poe 1834 traà ­do su tà ­a seà ±ora Clemm y su hija Virginia a vivir con à ©l y en 1836 à ©l casà ³ a su primo joven. Era durante este tiempo que una produccià ³n extrema de la literatura vino de Poe. Él escribià ³ historias y muchas revisiones poderosas y de reducciones radicales, emprendiendo guerra en mediocrity e intentando hacer cumplir altos estndares literarios. Desafortunadamente sus esfuerzos fueron perdidos a menudo en trabajos algo insignificantes. Despuà ©s de seis aà ±os de la unià ³n Virginia tenà ­a f... Free Essays on Poe In Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale Heart," the author combines vivid symbolism with subtle irony. Although the story runs only four pages, within those few pages many examples of symbolism and irony abound. In short, the symbolism and irony lead to an enormously improved story as compared to a story with the same plot but with these two elements missing. "The Tell-Tale Heart" consists of a monologue in which the murderer of an old man protests his insanity rather than his guilt: "You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded . . ." (Poe 121). By the narrator insisting so emphatically that he is sane, the reader is assured that he is indeed deranged. E. Arthur Robinson feels that by using this irony the narrator creates a feeling of hysteria, and the turmoil resulting from this hysteria is what places "The Tell-Tale Heart" in the list of the greatest horror stories of all time (94). Julian Symons suggests that the murder of the old man is motiveless, and unconnected with passion or profit (212). But in a deeper sense, the murder does have a purpose: to ensure that the narrator does not have to endure the haunting of the Evil Eye any longer. To a madman, this is as good of a reason as any; in the mind of a madman, reason does not always win out over emotion. Edward H. Davidson insists that emotion had a large part to play in the crime, suggesting that the narrator suffers and commits a crime because of an excess of emotion over intelligence (203). Poe relates how the narrator believes the validity of the previous statement: ". . . very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease has sharpened my sensesnot destroyednot dulled them . . ." (121). The disease in this case is obviously a severe case of emotions, nervousness among them. Thus, even in the story the narrator realizes that he is overcome by emotions, a... Free Essays on Poe By telling the story of a perfectly sane man driven mad by his own fear and sense of terror, Poe establishes a very important point that one’s fear is determined by one’s reaction to a situation. In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story "The Fall of the House of Usher," the narrator starts out as a sane person, but, after living with his mentally disturbed and depressed childhood friend, Roderick Usher, the narrator begins to go mad and finally loses his mind to his own personal fears. After being with Roderick for a short time, the narrator learns many details about Roderick’s personal life, including his fascination with death and the supernatural and his close relationship with his dying sister, Madeline. After Madeline’s death, the narrator begins to lose his mind in the same way as Roderick, and his fears are visually manifested when he sees an image of Madeline still alive even after she is locked in a temporary tomb. First of all, one can see tha t the narrator is, for the most part, sane at the beginning of the story. When he first sees the decaying and crumbling House of Usher, he begins to feel "...an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of the sublime" (Poe 1). While these feelings strike fear in his heart, the narrator is able to reassure himself that "...there are certain combinations of very simple natural objects which have the power of thus affecting us† (Poe 1). He thinks about how "...a mere different arrangement of the particulars of the scene, of the details of the picture, would be sufficient to modify or perhaps to annihilate its capacity for sorrowful impression...† (Poe 1). Also, when Roderick throws open the shutters to the narrator’s room and shows him the strange glow surrounding the house, the narrator tries to explain it logically by reassuring Roderick that "These appearance s, which be... Free Essays on Poe Many authors have made great contributions to the world of literature. Mark Twain introduced Americans to life on the Mississippi. Thomas Hardy wrote on his pessimistic views of the Victorian Age. Another author that influenced literature is Edgar Allan Poe. Poe is known as the father of the American short story and father of the detective story. To understand the literary contributions of Edgar Allan Poe, one must look at his early life, his literary life, and a summary of his famous works. "Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston'' (Inglis 505) "on January 19, 1809'' (Asselineau 409). He was born to a southern family that were in a traveling company of actors (Inglis 505). His father, David Poe, was from a Baltimore family. He was an actor by profession and a heavy drinker. Soon after Edgar Allan Poe was born, he left his family. Poe's mother, Elizabeth Arnold Poe, was a widow at the age of eighteen. Two years after his birth, she died of tuberculosis (Asselineau 409). When his mother d ied, Poe was adopted by John Allan (Perry XI) at the urging of Mr. Allan's wife. In 1815, John Allan moved his family to England. While there, Poe was sent to private schools (Asselineau 410). In the spring of 1826, Poe entered the University of Virginia. There he studied Spanish, French, Italian, and Latin. He had an excellent scholastic record. He got into difficulties almost at once. Mr. Allan did not provide him with the money to pay for his fees and other necessities. Poe was confused and homesick. He learned to play cards and started drinking. Soon he was in debt in excess of two thousand dollars. Poe discovered that he could not depend upon Allan for financial support. His foster father refused to pay his debts, and Poe had to withdraw from the University (Asselineau 410). In May of 1827, Poe enlisted in the army as a common soldier. He did this under the name of Edgar A. Perry. He was stationed on Sullivan's Island in Charleston Harbor for over a yea...