Edgar Allan Poe

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Courtney House

Jill Decker

ENG101

12 DEC 2011

Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was a renowned American short-story writer, poet, and critic who were famous for his dark tales and poems. He is also accredited for the creation of modern detective stories. Until this day his work is has no equal when it come to American fiction. The Raven, his most famous poem, is one of the best poems in American literature. Poe's gothic style gained him a mixed reputation. Where some saw him as a literary genius others saw him as just disturbing.

Edgar Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. Both of his parents, David Poe, Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe, were actors. It was said that Edgar might have been named after a character from one of Shakespeare's plays King Lear, which both his parents had performed in. When only a baby Poe's father abandoned him and shortly after his mother died. He was then adopted by his god father, John Allan, where he inherited the name Allan and lived in Richmond, Virginia. Though certain events cause them to break ties, the Allans watched over Edgar through most of his youth. They took him with them to Britain in 1815 where he received a classic education. In 1820 they moved back to Richmond, where he attended the one-year-old University of Virginia. Edgar acquired a high debt because of his gambling, which made it difficult for his foster parents to afford to keep him at the university. After two years he dropped out. At that time, in 1829, he published

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his pamphlet of poems, Tamerlane and others. He also joined the army where he served under the name Edgar A. Perry. After his foster mother die Edgar left the

army to attend West Point military Academy. When things did not work out there he got kicked out purposely and moved to New York. There he released a series of dark but brilliant poems. Some of his work was said to be inspired by earlier writers such as John Keats, Percy Byyshe Shelley and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, according to several sources. In 1835 Edgar A. Poe married his thirteen-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm. He was 26 at the time. They lived in Richmond and Edgar work as an editor of the Southern Literary Messenger. He was known for being a critical reviewer. From there, Poe went on to write many short stories and poems such as some of my favorites like Tell- Tale Heart, The Black Cat, and The Raven before his un-timely death. Edgar Allan Poe died at the age of 40 from causes unknown, which makes it ironic since he was known for mysteries.

Though a short life, Mr. Poe contributed many things to American literature. With the tale The Murders in the Rue Morgue he established the first detective