edgar allan poe the inventor of the modern short story
Post on 14-Dec-2015
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Edgar Allan Poe
The inventor of the modern short story.
Edgar Allan Poe• Born January 19th, 1809, Died October
7th, 1849 at 40 years of age
• Parents were actors
• Mom dies of tuberculosis when Poe was 2
• Adopted by John Allan’s family
• -they were wealthy
• Poe’s MotherElizabeth
• John Allan
• Poe’s foster father
• Not welcomed by John Allan
• Attended the University of Virginia in 1826
• He was sent to school with no money or supplies
• Left school because of gambling debts
Edgar Allan Poe• Attended West Point in 1827
• He resigned with a dishonorable discharge
• Lived in Baltimore, MD
• Was depressed and living in poverty
• Married his cousin, Virginia Clem, in 1835
• Earned $10 a week as an editor
•
Poe’s Historical Site in Boston
Poe had many 1sts
• 1st great literary critic
• 1st American recognized as a note-worthy writer
• 1st person to write detective stories
1sts
• First psychological writer
• 1st author to write modern short stories
Poe’s favorite themes
• The death of a beautiful woman.
• Diseases of the body and mind
• Supernatural beauty
Themes
• Premature death
• Being haunted by death
• Sanity and Insanity
• Order and chaos
Great works include:
• “The Cask of Amontillado”
• “The Masque of the Red Death”
• “The Raven”
• “The Tell-Tale Heart”
• “The Black Cat”
Hardships
• Poe watched many of the women in his life die a bloody death.
• Poe was rejected by by adopted father.
• Poe had a drinking problem.
• Poe was very poor.
Poe’s Mysterious Death
• Poe was found unconscious on the streets of Baltimore, wearing someone else's clothes.
• It was election day, and one theory is that he was drugged and made a repeat voter.
Poe’s last home in Richmond
Poe’s Memorial Grave in Boston
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