Edgar Allen Poe: Literary Response: Edgar Allan Poe

Nadia O 'Banion

Professor Carlos

ENGL 1302

28 April 2016

English 1302 literary response paper

Edgar Allan Poe was one of America 's most celebrated storytellers and poets but his life was full of misfortune and disappointment and this may have been the reason he turned to alcohol and opium. Evidence of his mental anguish and addictions is reflected in his writings. Poe was born in Boston in 1809, he was the son of itinerant actors. His father, whose father was a famous Revolutionary War general, was a heavy drinker and deserted the family when Poe was 18 months old; he died a short time later of tuberculosis. A few months later his mother got tuberculosis plus she was succumbed to pneumonia. At three years old Poe

In 1826 he entered the University of Virginia. He proved a superior student but inferior gambler, and ran up large debts. At age 17 he began a lifelong habit of alcohol abuse. When news of his adopted son 's behavior reached John Allan, he withdrew his financial support and Poe had to leave college and had to enlist in the military, spending 2 years in the ranks. While poe was in the military his step mother died from tuberculosis. In 1836 Poe married his 13 year old cousin, Virginia Clemm. They lived in Baltimore and Poe worked as an editor but was let go because of his drinking problem.Virginia became ill of tuberculosis and suffered for 4 years until she died in 1847, at age 24. Poe grieved her greatly and for a period abused both alcohol and opium. He attempted suicide several times by overdose. Like many poets Poe did not become famous for his writings until he died. He had a hard life, a lot of pain and death and that

Even though this disease is spreading rampantly, the prince, Prospero, feels happy and hopeful. He decides to lock the gates of his palace in order to fend off the plague, ignoring the illness ravaging the land. After several months, he throws a fancy masquerade ball. For this celebration, he decorates the rooms of his house in single colors. The easternmost room is decorated in blue, with blue stained-glass windows. The next room is purple with the same stained-glass window pattern. The rooms continue westward, according to this design, in the following color arrangement: green, orange, white, and violet. The seventh room is black, with red windows. Also in this room stands an ebony clock. When the clock rings each hour, its sound is so loud and distracting that everyone stops talking and the orchestra stops playing. When the clock is not sounding, though, the rooms are so beautiful and strange that they seem to be filled with dreams, swirling among the revelers. Most guests, however, avoid the final, black-and-red room because it contains both the clock and an ominous ambience.At midnight, a new guest appears, dressed more ghoulishly than his counterparts. His mask looks like the face of a corpse, his garments resemble a funeral