Sample Outline



Outline

Edgar Allan Poe

I. Introduction

A. Throughout his life, Edgar Allan Poe tragically lost the people that were close to him.

B. He was orphaned at a young age, was never adopted, and battled depression and alcoholism for many years.

C. Poe is most well known for his dark poems and stories about love and death.

D. Thesis-- The death that surrounded Edgar Allan Poe profoundly affected him and this was evident in his writing.

II. Struggles

A. Drinking and alcoholism

1. Lost many jobs because of drinking

a. 1837—fired from Southern Literary Messenger when drinking got bad. (Grolier Library, p.189)

b. 1840—fired as editor from Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine because of drinking. (Grolier Library, p. 189)

c. 1842—fired as editor from Graham’s Magazine because of drinking. (Grolier Library, p. 189)

2. After death of his wife, Poe started losing battle with drinking and drugs. (Liukkonen)

B. Illness of loved ones

1. Tuberculosis killed his mother and brother at a young age. (Kent, p. 66)

2. Virginia Poe (his wife)

a. January 20, 1842—broke a blood vessel in her throat, which was the result of tuberculosis (Kent, p. 66)

b. She remained an invalid for five years before she died in 1847 (Liukkonen)

C. Mental state

1. Depression

a. In love with his 13-year-old cousin Virginia, Poe threatened to committ suicide when he believed that she and her mother (Maria Clemm) were going to move away from him. (Nilsson)

b. They stayed as a result and he later married her on Sept. 22, 1835 (Nilsson)

2. Madness

a. When Virginia had tuberculosis, Poe didn’t leave her side, and almost went mad watching her suffer, fearing that she might die. (Kent, p. 66)

D. Poverty

1. Poe left West Point because of gambling debts, and his stepfather John Allan would not help him when he wrote him from New York, begging for money. (Kent, p. 36)

2. Poe died in poverty when he was forty years old. (Adventures for Readers, p. 467)

III. Influences

A. Death

1. Poe’s thoughts about death and afterlife are reflected in his poems (Nilsson)

2. His poems “walk a fine line between life and death” (Nilsson)

a. “Irene”—unsure whether a woman is dead or asleep

b. “ To Helen”—living mixed with lifeless statue (Nilsson)

3. Preoccupation with death was part of American culture at the time (Nilsson)

B. Beauty

1. Jane Stith Stanard—mother of friend (Kent, p. 19)

a. Poe was 15 when he became enamored with her for her gracefulness and kind nature.

b. She died in 1824 after developing a brain tumor

c. Affected Poe tremendously: “His image of her became his ideal of beauty, and his thoughts of perfect beauty became forever identified with death.” (Kent, p. 19)

IV. Childhood

A. Talents

1. Poetry

a. Poe could recite English poetry when he was five years old. (Liukkonen)

b. One of his teachers later said of him: “the boy was born a poet.” (Liukkonen)

2. Athletics

a. excellent runner, leaper, boxer, and swimmer while living in Richmond (Nilsson)

b. at age 15 or 16, swam six miles in the James River on a hot June day, against a strong tide (Nilsson)

B. Family background

1. Poe was born in Boston in 1809 (Kent, p. 12)

2. Parents

a. Mother was an actress from England

b. Father was madly in love with her

c. They married six months after her first husband died (Kent, p. 12)

3. Becoming an orphan

a. Edgar’s father was a heavy drinker who left the family. (Grolier Library, p. 188)

b. Summer of 1811—mother becomes ill and stops acting (Nilsson)

c. She died Dec. 1811, only 24 years old, and left three children behind (Nilsson)

d. Edgar was taken in by wealthy merchants—John and Frances Allan (Grolier Library, p. 188)

V. Education

A. Early schooling

1. attended school in England from 1815-1820 (Grolier Library, p. 188)

2. went with the Allans (Grolier Library, p. 188)

B. University of Virginia

1. Enrolled in 1826 (Adventures for Readers)

2. studied French , Italian, Spanish, and Latin (Grolier Library, p. 188)

3. Allan didn’t give him enough money to cover expenses, so he started gambling. (Grolier Library, p. 188)

4. Left U. of Virginia within one year because of gambling debts. (Adventures for Readers, p. 467)

C. Military

1. enlisted in the army and served for two years (Adventures for Readers)

2. Allan helped him get into West Point

a. he was dismissed for misconduct (Adventures for Readers)

VI. Writing Career

A. Significant Works

1. “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”

a. published in April 1841

b. said to be the first modern detective story

c. Because the word “detective” did not exist yet, Poe called it a “tale of ratiocination”

d. Ratiocination—the process of exact thinking (Nilsson)

2. “The Raven”

a. published in 1845

b. dark poem about lost love

c. brought Poe nationwide fame

d. Poe claimed the two most effective letters in the English alphabet were “o” and “r,” which inspired the repeated use of “nevermore” in the poem. (Liukkonen)

B. Supernatural Fiction

1. focused more on paranoia, obsession, and mental enfeeblement than it did on supernatural beings like ghosts and vampires. (Liukkonen)

C. Editor

1. Southern Literary Messenger

a. offered job as a result of winning the Baltimore Saturday Visitor fiction contest in 1833 (Grolier Library, p. 189)

2. Working as editor at various journals and magazines, much of Poe’s work was printed in them and helped them become more successful. (Grolier Library, p. 189)

3. Some of his most famous stories were originally published in periodicals:

a. “The Fall of the House of Usher”

b. “The Masque of the Red Death”

c. “The Tell-Tale Heart” (Grolier Library, p. 189)

D. Early Works

1. In 1832, the Philadelphia Saturday Courier published five stories Poe had entered in a contest. (Grolier Library, p. 189)

2. 1827- Tamerlane and Other Poems

a. self-published, did not sell well.

b. One of the rarest volumes in American literary history (Liukkonen)

3. “The Balloon Hoax” and “The Gold Bug” were two stories by Poe that were set in Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, where he was stationed by the army in 1827. (Liukkonen)

4. After leaving West Point, Poe went to New York convinced former classmates to help pay for a book of his poems. (Kent, p. 37)

a. a publisher printed 500 copies of the book

b. the book wasn’t really noticed

c. Today, scholars consider it “the best book of poems ever written by an American poet up to that time.” (Kent, p. 37)

VII. Conclusion

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