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Edgar Allan Poe and His Works Essay

Decent Essays

Thesis: Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most influential, yet misunderstood writers in American Literature.

I. His Early Life
A. His Adoption
B. His Education

II. His Later Life
A. Books Published
B. Military Life

III. The Conclusion of His Life
A. His Marriage
B. His Death

IV. His Works

V. What Others Thought Of Him

Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, known as a poet and critic but most famous as the first master of the short story form, especially tales of the mysterious and macabre. Since his early death, the literary qualities of Poe's writings have been disputed, but his works have remained popular and he influenced many major American and European writers.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Poe was …show more content…

The following year his tale "A MS. Found in a Bottle" won a contest sponsored by the Baltimore Saturday Visitor. In 1835, Poe received a job as editor of the Southern Literary Messenger. He held this job until 1837. In 1836, he married his young cousin, Virginia (Anderson, 35-44). Throughout the next decade, much of which was marred by his wife's long illness, Poe worked as an editor for various periodicals in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in New York City. In 1847, Virginia died and Poe himself became ill; his disastrous addiction to liquor and his alleged use of drugs, may have contributed to his early death (Anderson, 123).
About a dozen of Poe's poems are remarkable for their flawless literary construction and for their haunting themes and meters. In "The Raven," for example, melancholy and omens of death overwhelm the narrator (Collected Tales, 943). "Lenore" mourns the death of a beautiful young woman (Collected Tales, 946). Poe's extraordinary manipulation of rhythm and sound is particularly evident in "The Bells," a poem that seems to echo with the chiming of metallic instruments (Collected Tales, 954). "Annabel Lee" is another poem that grieves the passing of a young woman (Collected Tales, 957). "The Sleeper," is a remarkable poem that reproduces the state of drowsiness (Collected Tales, 965).
Poe worked primarily as a book reviewer and produced a significant body of criticism; his essays were

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