Edgar Allan Poe was born January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were named David and Elizabeth Poe. When Edgar was two, Elizabeth separated from her husband and she took her three sons with her. In 1811, she died. Edgar Allan Poe was then adopted by Mr. and Mrs. John Allan, while her other sons went somewhere else. Mrs. and Mrs John Allan were wealthy merchants so Edgar went to good schools. At the age of 17, he went to the University of Virginia. Even though Mrs. and Mr. John Allan had plenty of money, they gave Edgar only one third of it. The next year, Edgar quit school because he didn’t have enough money. He joined the army because he had no money and no skill for jobs. He did very well and became a Sergeant major. In 1829, Mrs. Allan died and Mr. Allan tried to be friendlier to Edgar and signed his application to West Point. He didn’t stay long in the army because John Allan refused to give him any money. At first, Edgar was struggling to be a writer. Then, he won the job for the news paper. As many years passed, Edgar became one of the first well-known Americans to earn a living as a writer. Some of the things he wrote about were romance, horror and comedy; he also created science fiction. On October 7th, 1849, at the age of 40, Edgar Allan Poe died in Baltimore from a drinking problem, people say. He is still popular around the world and some of his famous pieces today are “The Raven,” “The Tell-tale Heart” and more.

Edgar Allan Poe is known as the father of horror stories. He became one of the most popular poetry writers. His stories weren’t similar to other writers. His stories are usually in first person narration. The narrators usually confess they killed someone, but they say they are not crazy. Poe’s stories are usually dark. In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” there was a crazy man who killed his master because he hated his eye. He thought that if he killed his master and his eye, he would accomplish his mission. The section where he kills the old man is very descriptive and good: “The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more”. Then the police came and the narrator was confident that the police would not find out what happened. As the police stay longer, the narrator becomes more anxious they will find out. Then he becomes really nervous and he confesses that he killed the man.” There entered three men, who introduced themselves, with perfect suavity, as officers of the police. A shriek had been heard by a neighbor during the night; suspicion of foul play had been aroused; information had been lodged at the police office, and they (the officers) had been deputed to search the premises. I smiled, –for what had I to fear? I bade the gentlemen welcome. The shriek, I said, was my own in a dream. The old man, I mentioned, was absent in the country. I took my visitors all over the house. I bade them search –search well. I led them, at length, to his chamber. I showed them his treasures, secure, undisturbed. In the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room, and desired them here to rest from their fatigues, while I myself, in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim”. He repeats himself a lot to make it interesting. He does a great job of making his narrators confident to a crazy degree. His use of words is incredible. Some of the things he says are hard to believe, but his words make them believable.

Edgar Allan Poe’s stories remind of Harry Potter because even though I know what happens, I still feel nervous. His stories are really suspenseful. That’s why Edgar Allan Poe is a good writer.Edgar Allan Poe’s work is so interesting that I feel I am watching a movie. The part that is really interesting is his titles. In my opinion, I think the title makes sense because the narrator hears the old man’s heart when he’s dead. Edgar Allan Poe was a successful writer because his works are really dark and different from other writers. For example, in “The Tell Tale Heart”, the narrator stands next to the door and peeks in to see if the man is sleeping for an hour. Imagine you were doing that, doing nothing expect for peeking your head through the door for a full hour. That’s why Edgar Allan Poe was a good writer and was successful. If Edgar Allan Poe was successful, how did he get his ideas? I think he got some of his ideas from depression. His stories are usually dark, cold and scary because of his child hood. He also probably got some of his ideas from other writers. All of the stories I read were dark; I would like to read one that wasn’t dark. I want to see the difference in language between the two kinds of stories. Even though he had a sad childhood, he became an incredible writer.

Name Edgar Allan Poe
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By chriswatkinsThis photo was taken on April 30, 2008 in Northwest Washington, Washington, DC, US, using a Sony DSC-W7.