Edgar Allan Poe

Essay by pak123High School, 10th gradeA+, August 2007

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Edgar Allan Poe is considered one of the greatest writers of all time. He was an American poet, a critic, a short story writer, and an author of many macabre works. He contributed greatly to the genres of horror and science fiction, Poe is now considered the father of the modern detective story and is highly praised as a poet. Much of Poe’s literature illustrates an intense faculty for technical and abstract beauty, with the rhyming art to excess, a persistent tendency toward nocturnal themes, and a demoniac undertone behind every page. There is an indescribable appeal about the poet’s life and reminiscences, as well as the poems. Poe’s psychologically thrilling tales examining the depths of the human psyche earned him much fame during his lifetime and after his death. Edgar Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of actors Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins and David Poe.

He had a brother named William Henry and sister, Rosalie. His own life was marred by tragedy at an early age (his parents died before he was three years old) and in his works we can see his darkly passionate sensibilities. We can see in his works a tormented and sometimes neurotic obsession with death and violence and an overall appreciation for the beautiful yet tragic mysteries of life. Poe’s literary criticisms of poetry and the art of short story writing include “The Poetic Principal” and “The Philosophy of Composition.” There have been numerous collections of his works published and many of them have been inspiration for popular television and film adaptations including “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Black Cat,” and “The Raven.” He has been the subject of numerous biographers and has significantly influenced many other authors even into the 21st Century. After the death of his parents Edgar...