Edgar Allan Poe

Now for this class there will be two parts.

Part One
Describe Edgar Allan Poe's life history. Tell about how his life was growing up. Did he have any problems that he had to face? Did he become famous before or after he died? Cover these and more at least 100- 200 words.
(40 points)

Part Two
Taking one of the many poems Edgar Allan Poe has written and describe what you thin they mean. You can do it by line by line or just summarize the whole thing. It must not be no fewer than 100 words. Also make sure you include the title of the poem.
(40points)

Bonus:
Post a picture of Edgar Poe.

Possible points earned 100 points

Part One
Describe Edgar Allan Poe's life history. Tell about how his life was growing up. Did he have any problems that he had to face? Did he become famous before or after he died? Cover these and more at least 100- 200 words.


Edgar Allen Poe was born January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. His mother, Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and his father, David Poe, Jr were both actors. He had an elder brother William and a younger sister, Rosalie. His father left home when Edgar was just a year old, his mother died of tuberculosis a short while later. Edgar was then sent to live the Allen family in Richmond, Virginia. John Allen was successful merchant who was alternately over indulgent to Edgar and a strong disciplinarian. In 1815 the family went to England and after a short stint in a school in Scotland, Edgar was brought back to England where he went to school in Chealsea and Stoke Newington, a suburb outside of London.

Sources:
Wikipedia and my own book of The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe
They returned to Virginia in 1820. In 1826 Poe started at the University of Virginia and became engaged to Sarah Elmira Royster, which later ended. Less than a year after starting college, Poe moved to Boston, workied as a clerk and newspaper writer. He often wrote under the pseudonym Henry Le Rennett. At the age of 18 he joined the Army under the last name Perry , desperate for money. While serving he published his first book of poetry, but the book went largely unnoticed, Poe not even being named as the author. In the Army Poe quickly rose, attaining the highest level he could while remaining an a noncommissioned officer. Seeking to leave service early, he returned home to John Allen in 1829, shortly after his foster mother's death, where the two reconciled enough to get Poe discharged. He then moved in with his aunt before going to West Point.
When John Allen married a second time, Poe and he argued over new and old issues, and Allen disowned Poe. Poe then purposely had himself thrown out of West Point, but was able to use money raised from his fellow classmates to release his third book of poems. Poe moved in with his Aunt in Baltimore, Maryland and began to publish a few short stories. He received some attention for his The Manuscript Found in a Bottle story, but Poe's trouble with alcohol ruined the employment opportunities that his success had given him.
In 1835 he married his first cousin, 13 year old Virginia Eliza Clemm. Promising to clean up his act he moved back to Richmond with his wife and his aunt, working hard as an assistant editor. He publicly married Virginia again in 1836. He began to publish more frequently, including his 1839 Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, although it brought in little money. Virginia became ill from tuberculosis in 1843, only making a partial recovery, and Poe once more turned to alcohol. In 1845 he published what is probably his most famous poem "The Raven". After moving to New York, Virgina died in their home on January 30, 1847. After her death he breifly courted poet Sarah Helen Whitman and his childhood fiance, Sarah.
Throughout his life Poe has suffered from alcoholism and bouts of depression, which only worsened with his wife's death. Poe was found wondering the streets of Baltimore in 1849, wearing clothes not belonging to him, sick and delirious he died a few short days later on October 7, 1849. The exact cause of his death remains a controversy to this day. Although he attained success in his lifetime there is no doubt that he is now more famous than when he was alive. He is considered one of America's greatest writers, although it took a while for his macabre tales to find wide popularity in the US.


Part Two
Taking one of the many peoms Edgar Allan Poe has written and describe what you thin they mean. You can do it by line by line or just summerize the whole thing. It must not be no fewer than 100 words. Also make sure you include the title of the peom.


http://www.online-literature.com/poe/2140/

A Dream Within a Dream

I believe that the poem is about the struggle humans have with existence and the too quick passage of time. Of course there are some that might argue that Poe was being quite deep and Matrix like, by saying, "All that we see or seem/Is but a dream within a dream. The imagery of time is of him standing on a beach, holding sand in his hand, crying as it slips away. We are powerless, as we are powerless to control our dreams, to stop time. "O God! can I not grasp/Them with a tighter clasp" is a wish to hold on to time, to hold on to dreams. Too often in life we find that we do not have time to live out the dreams we may have once had as children, time comes crashing down on us, forcing us into the here in now. The narration of the poem is one of powerlessness, unable to come to terms with one's current life, feeling as if one's chances are slipping away, stolen by the ever greedy clock.

Part One

Poe was born January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was born to actor and actress David and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe. He had an elder brother, William Henry Leonard, and a younger sister, Rosalie. In 1810 his father left and a year later his mother died. Poe was taken in by a successful Scottish merchant, John Allan. They never formally adopted him, but gave him the name “Edgar Allan Poe”. In 1812 Edgar was baptized as Episcopalian. In 1815 the family traveled to England and for a short time Edgar attended a Grammar School in Irvine, Scotland until 1816 when he rejoined his family in London. He studied at a boarding school in Chelsea, before entering at Reveremd John Bransby’s Manor House School at Stoke Newington after the summer of 1817. In 1820 he moved back with the Allans who were in Richmond, Virginia. Five years later a friend of John Allan died and left several acres of real estate to him. Edgar engaged Sarah Elmira Royster, then later registered at the University of Virginia in Febuary of 1826. He lost touch with Royster and became no longer welcome with his foster family due to gambling problems. He left the school after a year and moved to Boston in April of 1827. He had odd jobs as a clerk and newspaper writer where at one point he used the alias Henry Le Rennet.

Poe enlisted in the US army as a private under the false name “Edgar A. Perry”, claiming he was twenty-two when he was actually eighteen, on May 26, 1827. While in service, Poe released his first book called Tamerlane and other Poems, a forty-page poetry collection. Few copies were printed and it received practically no attention. After serving two years he attained the highest rank possible for a noncommissioned officer. He told his name and circumstances to his commanding officer, seeking to end his five-year enlistment early. The commanding officer would only allow Poe discharge if he reconciled with John Allan. Allan ignored letters sent to him until the death of his wife February 28, 1829. April 15, 1829 Poe was discharged. Poe moved to Baltimore, Maryland to stay with his aunt Maria Clemm and her daughter Virginia. In 1829 he published his second book Al Aaraaf Tamerlane and Minor Poems. Poe’s foster father married a second time. Quarrels with Poe over children born to Allan out of affairs eventually led to him disowning Poe. In New York, February of 1831 he released his third volume of poems called Poems.

March of 1831, Poe returned to live with his aunt, brother, and cousin. His brother died of tuberculosis later that year. Poe turned his attention to his poetry and got a few stories with Philadelphia publication. He began to work on Politian, his only drama. A Baltimore paper, awarded him a prize for his Manuscript Found in a Bottle in 1833. John P. Kennedy, who’s attention was caught by the story, helped Poe place some stories of his and introduced him to editor of Southern Literary Messenger, Thomas W. White. July 1835 Poe became assistant editor, but was discharged due to drunkenness. He then married, in secret, his cousin Virginia who was but the age of thirteen. After promising good behavior, Poe was reinstated by White and went back to Richmond with Virginia and his mother-in-law/aunt, and stayed with the paper till early 1837. During his time at the paper circulation increased about 500%. He published several of his writings n the paper. May 16, 1836 he remarried Virginia, this time publicly. Many publications later, on January 20, 1842 his wife first showed signs of tuberculosis. She partially recovered, and Poe began drinking more because of stress. He continued writing and on January 29, 1845 his poem “The Raven”, one of his most famous poems, appeared in the Evening Mirror. He moved to a cottage in New York, where his wife died January 30, 1847. Poe attempted to court Sarah Helen Whitman, a poet who lived in Providence, Rhode Island. The engagement failed supposedly because of Poe’s drinking and non-predictable behavior, though there is strong evidence Sarah’s mother tried to derail their relationship. He returned to Richmond and resumed a relationship with Sarah Elmira Royster, a previous fiancé. He died October 7, 1849 after a friend took Poe, who was in a dire condition, to a hospital four days prior to the death. The reasoning of his death is unknown.

Part Two
The Raven

The poem is about a narrator who has lost his lover, “Lenore”. The narrator presumes that the raven can only say “Nevermore”, but he continues to ask it question knowing what the answer will be. He asks questions that inflame his feelings of loss, in a way purposely making himself feel worse. It seems the narrator is purposely focusing on loss. This poem explains the effect of the loss of a loved one, the wanting to remember and the desire to forget. We want to remember who they were, but the pain and sorrow it brings us just makes us want to forget. Also it shows the want to know more. Many want to know what happens to our loved ones after death, that is why the narrator asks the raven if “Lenore” is in heaven.

Sources:
Wikipedia
Poem Here

Thankyou to Stephy for posting this class Well done to the two of you who participated, your points are below:

Ravenclaw
Rigby Dumbledore: 37

Slytherin
drkangelcat: 37