Edgar Allan poe

1. Edgar Allan poe All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream

3. biography • He was Born 19 January 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts • He attended the University of Virginia in 1820 – 1827 and was expelled for not paying back his gambling debts. • He then attended West Point, but was expelled due to his missing too many classes. • In 1833 he won a prize for his short story “MS in a bottle”

4. biography • Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809, his parents’ second child. • His father deserted the family a year later. • In December 1811, his mother died at twenty-four, and her husband disappeared completely. • Poe was taken in by John Allan, a successful and stable Richmond merchant. • Poe later married his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia. She later died at very young age of tuberculosis.

5. His death • On October 3, 1849, Poe was found on the streets of Baltimore delirious, "in great distress, and... in need of immediate assistance.”He was taken to the Washington College Hospital, where he died on Sunday, October 7, 1849, at 5:00 in the morning.[Poe was never coherent long enough to explain how he came to be in his dire condition, and, oddly, was wearing clothes that were not his own. Some sources say Poe's final words were "Lord help my poor soul.” All medical records, including his death certificate, have been lost.]Newspapers at the time reported Poe's death as "congestion of the brain" or "cerebral inflammation", common euphemisms for deaths from disreputable causes such as alcoholism.]The actual cause of death remains a mystery

6. Some of Edgar Allan Poe’s Works…. • The Cask of Amontillado • The Fall of the House of Usher • The Pit and the Pendulum • The Sphinx • The Raven • A Tell Tale Heart

7. Cask of amontillado • I said to him -- "My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking to-day! But I have received a pipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts."

8. Poe worked in a variety of genres (1827-1849) • Criticism--he gained a national reputation as a virulently sarcastic critic, a literary hatchet-man. The bulk of his writing consists of his criticism, and his most abiding ambition was to become a powerful critic. • Poetry--He was an experimental poet. • Psychological fiction--He wanted to produce the greatest possible horrific effects on the reader. • Detective Story--Poe created this form when he was 32, will all its major conventions complete.

9. Elements of gothic in poe’s fiction • Grim setting • Landscapes are often reflections of character’s mind. • Unusual buildings, extremes of nature, eccentric works of art • Very few of his stories take place in America; most take place in Europe or Never-never-land.

10. Other aspects of the gothic • Hidden evil • Unspeakable, mysterious crimes, including incest and parricide • Obsession with Death • Ghosts, blood, body parts • Maniacal Laughter • The discovered manuscript • gives responsibility to someone else • Deformity • the grotesque--people who don’t look right are capable of activity beyond the norm