...emotionally distant from others. In the poem “Alone”, Edgar Allan Poe most directly relates alone with being emotionally distant and describes alone in terms of not being able to experiences things as others do, most significantly during his childhood. Poe looks back upon his childhood, and with his dark and disturbing writing style he creates the image of fear and loneliness that he felt as a child within the reader. Poe establishes in “Alone” that the true definition of alone is to be emotionally distant from the world. This idea comes from his childhood influences, his search for the unexplainable and his philosophy...
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...For most readers, the name of Edgar Allan Poe has become a byword for horror and fear. Moreover, the images and motifs created by the novelist had an immense influence on the following generations and works of other authors, so that they even became immersed into the popular culture. Poe’s memorable images and quotes became an integral part of the world’s cultural heritage, giving inspiration to the horror movie script writers and novelists. As a result, many fans of the horror genre don’t even rate Poe’s contribution at its true value, taking his efforts for granted. For nearly two centuries so far, Poe has been providing realistic images of morbidity, fear and the horror of life to everyone who is interested in the genre or makes parallels between fiction and certain moments in life. The biography of Edgar Allan Poe is full of mystery which can be explained by his own passion for exaggeration and fantasies, which confused biographers who were trying to learn about his life from his works or his own words. However, most biographers agree that Poe hardly knew his parents and when biographers claim that he was a spoiled child, they mean the family who adopted Edgar. Edgar was born in a family of young actors. His father was an alcohol addict, whose addiction went so far that he even was drunk on the stage. Once he left his wife and kids and nobody saw him ever again. Edgar’s mother fell ill and died when Poe was only a child. That’s how Edgar was adopted by the Allens, the family...
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...History April 22, 2011 Edgar Allan Poe To most people, Edgar Allan Poe was a troubled soul that had many psychological issues. Some people think that his works mimicked his own mental torment and torture; others thought that he was an American writer romantically doomed to failure by events and emotions too great for him to handle. His writings reflect each theory, and his style was very unique and unusual for the time period in which they were written. The artistic liberties and risks that Poe took in his works sparked the beginning of what we call the Romanticism Period. The hardships and tragedies which Edgar Allan Poe faced throughout his life played a big part in influencing his writing, how his writing influenced the period, and how it affected his mental stability (Life 240). Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts, to David and Elizabeth Poe. He had two siblings, a younger sister named Rosalie and an older brother named Henry. When Poe was just one, his father abandoned his wife and children. At two his mother died of tuberculosis and the children were split up into different homes (Tragedies 240). Poe was taken in by John Allan and his childless wife Frances, giving him his middle name. Having experienced many tragedies at an early age, he, starting at the age of six, developed a great fear of death and this influenced how and what he would later write (Jordan np). The Allan couple lived in Richmond, Virginia, and Poe was moved to their home...
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...Edgar Poe was born on the 19th of January, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. His father was David Poe Jr. and his mother was Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe. Both of them were actors. Edgar had an elder brother named William Henry Leonard Poe and a younger sister named Rosalie Poe. In 1810, their father abandoned them, and within a year their mother died of consumption. Edgar went to live with John Allan who was a Scottish tobacco merchant living in Richmond, Virginia. His siblings went to other families. The Allan family was quite well to do, and Edgar lived a good life with them. As a mark of respect for his adoptive family, Edgar took the middle name of Allan and came to be known as Edgar Allan Poe. In 1815, the Allans along with Edgar traveled to England, where Edgar began to attend school. In 1815, he attended Grammar School in Irvine, Scotland, and in a boarding school in Chelsea in 1817. After that, he attended the Reverend John Bransby’s Manor House School at Stoke Newington near London. In 1826, he joined the University of Virginia, but he left within a year. Although the Allans were quite well off, John Allan would not give Edgar much money for his survival in college. To make up for the less money, Edgar began to gamble and lost heavily. His gambling debts created further rifts between him and John Allan. Poe was poor and needed money. So he joined the United States Army under the assumed name of Edgar A. Perry. He served for two years and attained the rank of Sergeant...
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...PREFACE This major project examines the indispensable desiderata of Transcendentalism in comparison to the Dark Romantics background and how these technicalities prepare this work of art as an influential synthesis of human imagination incorporated with mystic facts. Transcendentalism and Dark Romanticism were two literary movements that occurred in America during roughly the same time period (1840—1860). Although the two had surface similarities, such as their reverence for Nature, their founding beliefs were quite different, enough to make one seem almost the antithesis of each other. Moreover one’s genesis is ventured out from other; i.e. Dark Romanticism from the roots of Transcendentalism or precisely the lacunae are best determined for raising up the term called Dark Romanticism. Contents S. No. Page no. Chapter 1.........................................................................................................4-14 Chapter 2.........................................................................................................15-23. Chapter 3..........................................................................................................24-27 Resolution.........................................................................................................28-29 Work Cited................................................................
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...Over time, many tales, poems, and stories have been created. An inspiring story with excellent structure and details most likely means it was written by Edgar Allan Poe. This /surreal and interesting man has made plenty of great poems and stories such as The Raven and Tell Tale Heart (Poe Stories, 2005-2017). It is these stories that really make a major impact on society. Using the talents that he has conducted, Edgar Allan Poe constructed short stories and poems by adopting meta-cognition to influence inspiration and reflection among his readers. Edgar Allan Poe’s adolescence actually made a huge effect on his career. At a prodigiously small age, Poe’s mom had forever departed through consumption and his dad through desertion. On account of this, Poe was separated from his siblings and taken in by a wealthy family, Frances and John Allan...
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...Edgar Allan Poe was born January 19, 1809 in Boston, MA and died on October 7, 1849 in Baltimore, MD. He led a life of deep heartache. He was orphaned as a child only a year after he was born, adopted by his stoic non-supportive father figure John Allan, a scottish tobacco exporter and dry-goods merchant. He gave Edgar constant grief over debt and educational pricing, but Poe took the morbid dark and secret reaches of the human psyche and turned it into beautifully renowned pieces of literature. During his early years Edgar observed John Allan in his work which gave him “an understanding of the value of information and that literature was a commodity produced by sale in the capitalist marketplace.” (Felicia Burdescu, Michaela Prioteasa, Shaping...
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...Katie Valdesuso November 30, 2010 ENGL 439 Prof. Allan R. Life The Evocation of Terror in Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher In his Philosophy of Composition, Edgar Allan Poe informs us that he begins writing with “the consideration of an effect” (430). Most of Poe’s poetry and fiction exemplifies his assertion that a preconceived effect upon a reader is undoubtedly fundamental to his creative work. Poe’s tales of terror in particular epitomize the supremacy of his craft in that each component of his narrative strategy functions to achieve the final effect of generating unmitigated terror in his readers. Focusing primarily on The Fall of the House of Usher, I argue that Poe employs a preconceived narrative strategy that ultimately functions to evoke terror; I assert that Poe elicits fear to challenge us to reexamine out perceptions of ostensibly impossible circumstances and recognize the limits of our intellect. I will first examine the aspects of Poe’s narrative style that culminate to achieve his desired effect of the evocation of terror. I will then analyze the narrator’s response to this evocation of terror and how this emergent response elicits fear in the reader. Last, I will illustrate how the narrator’s evolving response is emulated in the style through which the tale is narrated. In The Fall of the House of Usher, Poe tactically exploits a first person narrator, setting, imagery, and tone to achieve a “unity of effect,” the aforethought effect...
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...game-changing advancements. The poem by Poe shows how the era had developed by giving an example of how fast the times were changing: “a poem may be improperly brief”. For example, Americans experienced the “The American Renaissance” which was the first flowering of the American culture. Americans also faced improved transportation that went along with the doubling of our nation's size (“A growing Nation…” 210-220). An important person living during this era was Edgar Allen Poe because he had changed an entire genre of writing. Furthermore, one invention that affected Americans was the colt revolver. It enabled Americans to protect themselves. Lastly, an event that had a major impact at the...
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...and take notes as observed to compare and contrast with the literary setting of my choice. As for the location I chose Coney Island in comparison with the Carnival Feast in “The Cask of Amontillado”, by Edgar Allan Poe. Judging by my experience in Coney Island, I can state that there is an abundance of cultural heritage in that specific location. Coney Island gave me a perspective; on how cultural heritage consists of a unity with joyful events that bring different types of ethnicities, art, music, and overall culture together in one location. Coney Island is a very big attraction, for the most part known by many New Yorkers and tourists. “Coney” has very big, loud, and extravagant rides starting from the most famous/oldest ride the “Cyclone” and “Wonder Wheel” and most recently added amongst the hall of fame the “Polar Express”. To their race tracks, bumper cars (a place in a dark room filled with neon blue, red, yellow and green lights, my personal favorite). It was night time so everything was lit up. I imagine this is what Edgar Allen Poe meant when he mentioned the carnival season in “The Cask of Amontillado.” The carnival setting briefly described in the story of “The Cask of Amontillado”, isn’t much different from the scenery I observed in Coney Island. Edgar Allan Poe described scenery of a warm dusk night at the carnival filled with madness, and the dress attire and status of one of the protagonists. In Coney it was a warm night with many people intoxicated and lively...
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...Literature Creation Methods of Poe’s Gothic Tales ——Review of The Fall of the House of Usher 英81 高云君 2008012742 As one of the most famous works by Edgar Allan Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher is the a masterpiece in American gothic literature. The prose is full with of elements and details which are unsettling and macabre. It was slightly revised in 1840 for the collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. Poe’s gothic novels have always been my readings before bed since I was younga child. In my childhood, following the unnamed narrator and walking towards that old and creepy house, I was immersed in the horrible storyline and experience the fantastic feeling of nightmare. Today when I look back on this literature work, I get some deeper understanding and . Ⅰ. Hellish environment setting ：Use of double space The whole environment and different scenes in the story are so hellish that the reader feels a kind of inexplicable asphyxia. I summarize some typical elements Poe uses to build a gothic atmosphere. Day: a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn. Location: a singularly dreary tract of country. House and surrounding: upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain - upon the bleak walls - upon the vacant eye-like windows - upon a few rank sedges - and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees. The precipitous brink of a black and lurid tarn. If that can be called the exterior space, then the internal...
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...brighter, the drinks are better, and the sexes all look fantastic. What other motivation do you need to continue? How about people who are dealing with stressors that are driving them up the wall and to the edge of insanity. The family is falling apart, their job is terrible, and they can barely, if at all, make ends meet. That all changes when you take that drug. In that time frame the weight of the world is lifted off your shoulders. You can laugh, you can sing, and be merry or you can just sink in to a world of mental bliss unknown to men who never had the drug before. Just with these two scenarios, what would motivate them to refrain for using drugs? These drugs are improving the quality of their lives, in their opinion. A quote from Edgar Allen Poe States: “I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom” (St. Rosemary, 2014) Drug use normally starts as recreational or as a way to escape reality. Before most people know it, an addiction that changes their life. The recreation turns into an insatiable need. The craving becomes so strong that they would do anything to get just one more hit. Soon the very drug that was helping them escape problems is creating more...
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...Charlie Gordon is a 37 year-old man with a mental disability and an IQ of sixty-eight. It is true that he has a mental disability, but that doesn't change his ability and want to pursue his dream of being "smart." He put his mind to it and went for exactly what he wanted, Nothing less. Because even though he has the disability, he finds it with in himself to work hard and earn the ability to do things he has never had the opportunity to do. Even though he may not have been the smartest guy, he was happy with who he was and was always willing to learn and try new things. He had a great time with his supposed “friends.” When Charlie becomes the human test in a science experiment that triples his IQ, it strongly impacts his life in a negative way. He soon finds out intelligence does not always bring happiness. Mr. C. Gordon realizes the results of pursuing his ideal to be ‘smart’ and undergo the procedure, is that not only does he get fired because others felt inferior around him, but he also learned his “friends” had actually been bullying him to feed their sick sense of humour. “Now I’m more alone than ever,” Charlie states on April 30th. At this point in the story he was far more intelligent than his teacher or doctors, therefore has no one to relate to other than Algernon, the mouse who too received the treatment. Before charlie was “smart,” the smallest thing in life would put the biggest smile on his face. Now, as the new Einstein, none of those things could give him the...
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...complex theme´s that are built through the main character, Settings, Plot and word Choice. Both text Have been written by Edgar Allan Poe a famous American literary poet and critic, His most famous pieces were famous for their mysterious storylines and word usage. One reason Edgar Allan Poe's stories were so popular were due to the explicit themes each text Conveyed. The ¨Cask of Amontillado¨ Theme ¨ Do not insult those that are easily wounded for through pride cometh revenge¨. The Narrator states ¨ he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge… . I continued, as was my in to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation.¨ The Narrator is offended by Fortunato's words...
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...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...
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