Talks about the life of Edgar Allan Poe, and how his obstacles in real life encouraged him to write the works he did, also talks about his stories and poems.

Essay by svolachJunior High, 9th gradeA+, January 2004

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Edgar Allan Poe, born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. His mother, Elizabeth Arnold Poe worked there as an actress. His father, David Poe, abandoned the family when Poe was only 2. His mother took Edgar, his brother William, and sister Rosalie to Richmond, where his mother died on December 8, 1811, and Edgar was taken into the family of John and Frances Allan, a childless couple.

He was taken by the Allan family to England in 1815. Edgar spent his early childhood at prestigious private schools, including the Manor House School of Doctor Bransby at Stoke Newington, he was an excellent student. When they returned to the United States he continued attending private schools, and studied Latin, verse, and oratory. He was an athletic child, a great swimmer and marksman (A man skilled in shooting at a target.). However he was not popular and was teased by kids because he was the son of actors, (a dishonorable profession).

Poe received support and encouragement from the mother of a classmate, Jane Stith Stanard, but she died of a brain tumor when he was fifteen years old. She was like a mother to him. This was probably the cause of his first psychological depression. During which he visited her grave numerous times. During that time Mr. Allan lost his job, and started drinking.

In 1825, however, John Allan received a large sum of money, which enabled him register Poe at the University of Virginia. He became a member of the Jefferson Literary Society, and passed his courses with good grades. Mr. Allan did not give him enough money for all of his expenses, so Poe made debts of $2000 (a huge amounts in the 1820s) Mr. Allan refused to pay them. Poe was forced to leave the university.