Biography:

A.) Childhood:

Parents were __traveling__actors__, Father ___David___ abandoned the family; Mother

___Elizabeth___ died form ___Tuberculosis___ when Edgar was 2.

Adopted by the ___Allan’s___ (hence the middle name).

Relationship with adoptive mother = GOOD Relationship with adoptive father john = TENUOS

B.) Early Adulthood:

Had a variety of educational experiences and jobs, including a stint at the University of
Virginia (he left) and West Point (he was kicked out).

He became a __avid__ gambler on college.

C.) Relationships:

He was engaged to ___Elmira Royster___ who got engaged to another man while Poe was at
UVA.

Most notorious is his marriage to cousin __Virginia Clem__. She was __14__, he was __27__.

Virginia died at __24__ from ___Tuberculosis___.

He became engaged to __Elmira__ again in __1849__, but died before the wedding.

D.) Death:

Poe died on ___October 7, 1849___ after being found unconscious in front of a saloon in
___Baltimore, Maryland___.

His cause of death is ___unknown___.

Writings:
A.) Poems:

Poe wrote ___50___ poems.

His most well-known poems are __“The Raven”___ and ___“Annabel Lee”___.

Both deal with narrator ___mourning___ the loss of a ___beautiful___ woman, presumably his
__wife__.
__“The Raven”___ has been a staple in English literature curricula and has been the source of
several ____adaptations____.

B.) Short stories:

Poe also wrought roughly ___70___ other tales.

Some of his most famous short stories include “The Tell Tale Heart”, “The Cask of
Amontillado”, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, and “The Black Cat”.

Most of Poe’s short stories focus on ___Death___, ___Revenge___, and ___Insanity___, in

addition, several involve the __loss__ or __death__ of a beautiful woman.

Many of his stories are told in ____First person____.

C.) Novel:

Poe wrote one novel - The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket – at the insistence
of his editor. It was published in ___July 1838___.

Poe cared little for the text and made it as ___absurd___ as possible, including
___Shipwrecks___, ___Mutiny___, and ____Cannibalism____.

D.) Writing Style:

Poe believed that the first line of a text should set the ___Mood___ for the rest of the text.

What mood do you get from these famous first lines?

- “Once upon a midnight dreary/while I pondered, weak and weary.” - “The Raven”

I feel an Ominous and Apprehensive mood.

- “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured
upon insult, I vowed revenge.” - “The cask of Amontillado.”

I feel a Gruesome and Adventure mood/story.

- “The ‘Red Death’ had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal,
or so hideous. Blood was its avatar and seal – The redness and horror of blood.” – “The
Masque of the Red Death.”

I feel a Horror/Massacre mood.

Father of a Genre – Poe is also considered the father of the modern ___detective___ genre,
inspiring other famous mystery writer such as _____Arthur Conan Doyle_____ of the
___Sherlock Holmes___ series.
Many of Poe’s stories are written ___first___ person, meaning that the ___narrator___ is a
character in the story – usually the ___protagonist___.

The skewing and biased presentation of events comes from the use of a _unreliable narrator_.

Makes the reader question the ___validity___ of the events, often ___mislead___ the reader
and/or ___distort___ the truth – whether ___intentionally___ or ___unintentionally___.

Poe in popular culture:

A.) “The Raven”

Probably the __most__ referenced of Poe’s work.

References include: The Simpsons, 2012 movie, The Adams Family, The Munster’s to
Gilmore Girls, Alton Brown’s Good Eats, and the first line to Blues Traveler’s 1994 hit
“Run Around”.

B.) Other references:

Football Team:

The Football reference is the Baltimore Ravens

TV Shows:

The shows are “The Following”, and episodes of teen dramas “Supernatural” and
“Riverdale”.

Song Lyrics:

Lyrics from ‘The Beatles’ “I am the Walrus” and Alan Parsons (of pink Floyd’s “Dark side
of the Moon” fame) and renditions of the “The Tell Tale Heart” and “The Raven” and the
list goes on.