Premium Essay

Analyzing Edgar Allan Poe's Poem The Raven

Submitted By
Words 1270
Pages 6
Ashley Davis
Mrs. Gunulfsen
October 30, 2015

“The Raven” is the poem I have chosen for my analysis that was constructed by Edgar Alllen Poe.It includes several stanzas of despair and depression, symbolized by the bird it was named for. It was first published in 1845 and was noted for its “supernatural atmosphere”. He writes of a talking bird, the black as ink raven, that pays a visit to a student mourning the loss of his lover, Lenore. As it sits on a bust above the student’s chamber door, the raven seems to interrogate the lover with its constant repeating of the word “Nevermore”. Edgar said that he wrote the poem with mostly logical and methodical intent in order to construct a story that would appeal to both critics and the public, as …show more content…
Poe very popular throughout his life, it did not bring in much money. Soon thereafter, it was recreated and illustrated as well as parodied by several other people. Regardless of the critical opinion being selected as the poem’s literary status, it still remains one of the most, if not the most, famous poem written by anyone.
"The Raven" describes the unnamed student on a sad and lonely night in December as he reads “forgotten lore” to forget the loss of his lover. He hears a “tapping” at his door and upon opening it, finds nothing, but it is written that it excites his soul to “burning”. The tapping comes again, louder now, and he open his window which allows the raven to flutter into his chamber. The black, heavy bird perches above the door on a bust of Pallas.
The student asks the bird’s name. and it replies "Nevermore". He’s awfully surprised that the raven can talk, and tells himself that his "friend" will soon fly out of his life, just as "other friends have flown before" . Almost like it’s answering him, the raven repeats his chant of “Nevermore” and has yet to move from his perch. The student seems to think that the bird cannot actually think, and has simply been taught the word from an unhappy owner and it knows no other

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Ecology

...Professor Richard Dooner August 4th, 2014 Edgar Allan Poe’ Secrets Edgar Allan Poe’ Secret Considered as part of the American Romantic Movement, Edgar Allan Poe was an American poet, author, and literary critic in the 1800’s. In the textbook “Anthology of American Literature,” George McMichael and James Leonard included a literary criticism from Edgar Poe in “Twice-Told Tales” written by Hawthorne. In his review, Edgar Allan Poe set the rules of short stories. Also, the authors included Poe’ theory of poetry in “The Poetic Principle" and "The Philosophy of Composition" which contained the unified core and basis of Poe's critical theories and these two essays alone suffice to give one a full understanding of Poe's critical views. Edgar Allan Poe is considered to be America's first significant literary critic or, at least, the first major writer in America to write seriously about criticism, about the theory of composition, and about the principles of creative art. He was also the first to set down consistent set of principles about what he thought was acceptable in art and what should be essentially rejected in art. Poe's major theories can be found in the many reviews he wrote analyzing the writings of other authors; in this genre, his most famous review is entitled "Twice-Told Tales," a review of Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories. Among Poe's greatnesses was his ability as an editor to recognize great literature and to dismiss insignificant works. Poe was the first...

Words: 1494 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

History

...August 4th, 2014 Edgar Allan Poe’ Secrets Edgar Allan Poe’ Secret Considered as part of the American Romantic Movement, Edgar Allan Poe was an American poet, author, and literary critic in the 1800’s. In the textbook “Anthology of American Literature,” George McMichael and James Leonard included a literary criticism from Edgar Poe in “Twice-Told Tales” written by Hawthorne. In his review, Edgar Allan Poe set the rules of short stories. Also, the authors included Poe’ theory of poetry in “The Poetic Principle" and "The Philosophy of Composition" which contained the unified core and basis of Poe's critical theories and these two essays alone suffice to give one a full understanding of Poe's critical views. Edgar Allan Poe is considered to be America's first significant literary critic or, at least, the first major writer in America to write seriously about criticism, about the theory of composition, and about the principles of creative art. He was also the first to set down consistent set of principles about what he thought was acceptable in art and what should be essentially rejected in art. Poe's major theories can be found in the many reviews he wrote analyzing the writings of other authors; in this genre, his most famous review is entitled "Twice-Told Tales," a review of Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories. Among Poe's greatnesses was his ability as an editor to recognize great literature and to dismiss insignificant works. Poe was the first major, or influential, writer...

Words: 1491 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

North American Fiction

...NORTH AMERICAN FICTION BRIEF INTRODUCTION: Before starting our study of American Fiction we must understand what American Literature is in itself and which pieces of writing we can include within this label. It is believed that when a piece is written in North America, more precisely in the USA, it would automatically be given this epithet. But it should be taken into account that this idea is quite broad and doesn’t reflect the real essence of the term. However, there is also another definition that gathers this essence: American Literature is the one that represents the Americanism, the singularity of the USA philosophy and culture. This way, instead of focusing on who the author is, it is focused on the content of the writing. In that which concerns Fiction, the following documents are the ones considered as narrative: Speeches Letters Short Stories Essays Political Documents Sermons Novels Diaries 1 FIRST LITERARY EXPRESSIONS The first documents in which the idea of Americanism is very present are the Sermons. They respond to the strict Protestantism settled in the New Continent after the arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers and Puritans in the Mayflower (1620) and the Arabella (1630). They established a theocratic community whose main and only point of reference was the Bible. That is why the idea of the ‘city upon a hill’ is still very present in American mentality. As we all know...

Words: 12691 - Pages: 51