Edgar Allan Poe Review

1. Edgar Allan Poe Review Poe’s Poetry and Short Stories Eleventh Grade English Hannah Bennett

2. Literary Selections • The Black Cat • Hop Frog • The Pit and the Pendulum • The Raven • Murders in the Rue Morgue • The Fall of the House of Usher • The Tell-Tale Heart Click the question mark to take the quiz!

3. The black cat • Written In 1843 • Published on August 19, 1843 • Published in the Saturday Evening Post • Often compared to The Tell-Tale Heart • The story’s Main theme is guilt

4. The Black Cat • The story follows an unnamed narrator’s history with animals; in particular, a black cat named Pluto. • In a drunken fit, the narrator mutilates Pluto and hangs him from a tree. • Years later, he takes in an eerily similar cat. • In another fit of rage, the narrator tries to kill the cat; his wife intervenes, and he murders her instead. • To cover his crime, he buries his wife in the basement wall. • When the police visit, the narrator cracks, and leads them to uncover the body. • They find the black cat in the wall too, sitting atop her corpse.

5. Hop frog • Written in 1849 • Published on March 17, 1849 • Published in The Flag of Our Union • Originally titled: “Hop Frog or The Eight Chained Orangutans” • One of Poe’s revenge stories

6. Hop frog • The story is named for the title character, Hop Frog, a crippled dwarf and jester to a king who is seeking revenge for the king’s treatment of Trippetta, a friend of Hop Frog’s. • Hop Frog suggests that for the upcoming masquerade ball, the king and his friends dress as realistic orangutans. • Hop Frog fashions the costumes out of tar and flax. • The partygoers are frightened by the costumes, but cannot escape: Hop Frog locked the doors • Hop Frog “inspects” the beasts and sets them ablaze with his torch. • He and Trippetta escape through the window.

7. The Pit and the pendulum • Written in 1842 • Published in 1842 in The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1843 • Republished on May 17, 1845 in The Broadway Journal • Describes tortures undergone by a prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition

8. The Pit and the pendulum • The unnamed narrator is on trial when introduced; he is sentenced to death. • The next scene, the man is in a dark cell. He paces around to take its measurements when he trips and falls, narrowly missing stepping into a hole in the center of the floor. • The narrator sees an image of Father Time on the ceiling. From the image, a scythe like pendulum is swinging closer and closer. • Rats chew through the ropes binding the narrator and he breaks free to find the walls of the cell glowing with heat. • He is pushed into the hole and is caught by the French.

9. The Raven • Poe’s most famous poem. • First published in the Evening Mirror on January 29, 1845. • Poe was paid only $9 for his work. • “The Raven”is often noted for its musicality

10. The raven • An unnamed narrator is sitting at a desk writing in the middle of the night. • While writing, the man hears knocking on his door. He is visited by a raven. • The poem reveals the man’s descent into madness after the loss of his lover • The raven’s visit and repetition of the word “Nevermore,” further the narrator’s lamenting spiral into hysteria

11. Murders in the rue morgue • Originally titled story "Murders in the Rue Trianon“ • First published in Graham's Magazine in April 1841 • One of Poe’s most famous detective stories • Printed in pamphlets which sold for twelve and a half cents

12. Murders in the rue morgue • Madame L'Espanaye and her daughter lived in the Rue Morgue. Both ladies were killed in their fourth floor room which was locked from inside. • It was decided that the murderer was supposedly strong and foreign. • Dupinand the narrator decided to solve murder. The first clue found was a strange orange hair. • The hair belonged to an orang-outang. A sailor’s orangutan had gone. It escaped with straight razor into Rue Morgue apartments. • Orangutan tried to shave the women like the sailor shaved his own It accidentally cut Madame’s throat, crushed throat of girl out of rage, and hid the bodies in the fireplace.

13. Fall of the house of usher • First published in September 1839 • First published in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine • An example of Poe’s use of “totality” (writing in which every detail is significant, relevant, and related). • Considered Poe’s most famous work of prose.

14. The fall of the house of usher • An unnamed narrator visits the home of a childhood friend, Roderick Usher, at his request. The house seems to be “alive”. • Usher had asked the narrator there to help with his and his sister’s ailments. Usher seems to suffer from hypochondria and anxiety while his sister falls into death-like trances. • Usher’s sister supposedly dies and is buried in the basement. A short time later, she is heard screaming and opens the bedroom door. She and her brother collapse, dead. • The narrator escapes and looks back to see the house glowing green and breaking in two.

15. The tell-tale heart • Written in 1842 • Originally published in January of 1843in The Pioneer • Republished on August 23, 1845 in the Broadway Journal. • Was slightly revised when republished • Often compared to The Black Cat

16. The tell-tale heart • A man is haunted by the image of his aged housemate’s deformed eye; it drives him to madness. • One night, the narrator murders the old man in his sleep, dismembers him, and buries him beneath the floor. • When the police come to call, the narrator is tormented by his guilt. He hears the thumping of the old man’s heart beneath the floor gradually increasing in volume. • Believing that the officers can surely hear the beating heart as well, the narrator admits his guilt and crime to the police and tears up the floorboards to reveal the old man’s body.

17. What did you learn? Which of Edgar Allan Poe’s publications was sold for only $9 • The Tell Tale Heart • The Murders in the Rue Morgue • The Raven • The Fall of the House of Usher

18. Good try, but this isn’t it! • There was no price specified for “The Tell Tale Heart” during the power point. • Why don’t you give it another try! Click the arrow to return to the quiz.

19. You’re close, but not quite right! • The “Murders in the Rue Morgue” was sold for 12.5 cents when it was published! • Give it another try! Click the arrow to go back to the quiz!

20. Almost! Here’s what you missed. • There was no price specified during the power point for the “Fall of the House of Usher.” • Why don’t you give it another try! Click the arrow to go back to the quiz.

21. Congratulations! You got it right! • When it was published, Poe was paid only $9 for his publication, “The Raven”. Little did he know that ”The Raven” would become one of the most famous poems of all time!

22. Great Job!! You’ve finished the lesson! Click HERE or on the quill to go back to the beginning!