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What is the main contribution of Edgar Allan Poe to literature?
What is the main contribution of Edgar Allan Poe to literature?
What primarily drives the horror in the stories discussed?
What primarily drives the horror in the stories discussed?
Which work of Edgar Allan Poe is recognized for making him famous?
Which work of Edgar Allan Poe is recognized for making him famous?
In Poe's view, which element was not part of the human self's division?
In Poe's view, which element was not part of the human self's division?
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Which combination of themes is emphasized in the content?
Which combination of themes is emphasized in the content?
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What age difference existed between Edgar Allan Poe and his wife Virginia at the time of their marriage?
What age difference existed between Edgar Allan Poe and his wife Virginia at the time of their marriage?
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Which characteristic of the characters is noted in the content?
Which characteristic of the characters is noted in the content?
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Which poet is noted for translating Poe's tales into French and contributed to European appreciation of his work?
Which poet is noted for translating Poe's tales into French and contributed to European appreciation of his work?
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What is the significance of the 'single effect' in short stories?
What is the significance of the 'single effect' in short stories?
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What role do the settings in these stories play?
What role do the settings in these stories play?
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Study Notes
Edgar Allan Poe's Life
- Born in Boston in 1809 to traveling actors
- Father abandoned the family in 1810, and mother died in 1811 from alcohol consumption
- Raised by the Allans, his name became Edgar Allan Poe
- Attended the University of Virginia in 1826
- Incurred debt through gambling
- Left for Boston and published his first collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems, with little success
- Joined West Point, but remained only seven months
- Abandoned by his foster family
- Moved to Baltimore to live with his aunt, Marta Clemm
- Married his cousin, Virginia, in 1836; she was 14 and he was 27
- Virginia died in 1847
- He turned to drinking and died in 1849
Poe's Reputation
- Accused of perversion, alcoholism, and drug addiction in America
- French poet Charles Baudelaire translated Poe's tales, leading to European appreciation of his work
- French poet Stéphane Mallarmé translated Poe's poems into French, making him a precursor to the Symbolist movement
- His main contribution to literature was the short story. He started the detective story genre.
Poe's Main Works
- The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (1838), his only novel
- Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (1840)
- The Raven (1845), the poem that made him famous
- The Philosophy of Composition (1846), the essay outlining his aesthetic theories
Poe's Creative Spirit
- Poe saw the human self as comprised of three parts: Intellect, Conscience, and Soul
- He believed each part was concerned with: Truth, Duty, and Beauty
- Poetry was a means to discover beauty, and had nothing to do with truth or ethics
- He thought poetry was a way to order the shapeless world.
- He believed its most suitable tone was sadness and melancholy
Poe's Tales
- Divided into two groups:
- Tales of ratiocination or detection
- Tales of mystery and imagination
Tales of Ratiocination or Detection
- Developed the detective story
- Created a private detective, Monsieur Dupin
- Solved crimes using logical reasoning and psychological analysis
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
- Contain Gothic elements.
- Horror stems from the self, not external sources.
The Setting
- Closed setting, often in a small place
- Confinement: walled into cellars, buried prematurely
- Characters are rarely seen in daylight
The Characters
- Withdraw from conventional life
- Cultivate a life apart from the world
- Lose contact with reality
- Develop an exceptional acuteness of the senses
- Often become mad and die as a result of this expanded consciousness
Themes
- Perverseness: The impulse to annihilation that governs humanity's dark side
- Fusion of Beauty and Death: The merging of creation and destruction
- The Double: A concept that foreshadows the modern idea of "split personality"
- Attraction to Death
The Single Effect
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The Philosophy of Composition (1846) outlines the principles of the short story:
- Brevity: the story should be read in a single sitting
- The characters: Shown at the moment of crisis, not while developing and maturing
- The setting: Simplified or limited
- The 'single effect': A keynote, person, or object meant to arouse the reader's curiosity and interest.
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Description
Explore the tumultuous life of Edgar Allan Poe, from his tragic childhood to his literary contributions. Understand how his personal struggles influenced his work and how he was perceived both in America and Europe. This quiz delves into the complexities of Poe's reputation and legacy.
