Edgar Allan Poe Essay

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The Tell Tale Heart, the Raven, Murders in the Rue Morgue. You might have known Edgar Allan Poe as the famous author, poet, editor, and critic. He was a man of mystery, a man of suspense. His works often reflected his troubles and losses in life. Taking a more gothic style of writing, he was a strange and peculiar man. But, did you know he took part in enlisting in the military, or that his death is unknown? Reading this essay, you will find out that there were many more things to Edgar Allan Poe that you might not have suspected. And the horrific events that occurred in his life, he turned into masterpieces, which we read to this day. Edgar Allan Poe was born on a cold day in a lodging house in Boston, Massachusetts. It was January 19, 1809, and storming in the Boston Harbor. He was born as Edgar Poe to David Poe, Jr., and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe. They were both traveling actors. Poe’s parents split in when Edgar was one. He also had two siblings; Henry and Rosalie. The youngest was Rosalie, and the oldest was Henry, so Edgar was the middle child. In 1810, their father abandoned his family and left Elizabeth to care for the three children. Mrs. Poe then died a year later in 1811 from pulmonary tuberculosis. The three young children were split. Henry lived with his grandparents, Rosalie was taken into another family, and Edgar was fostered by Mr. and Mrs. Allan. The Allan family was a foster family. They took him in and changed his name to “Edgar Allan Poe” but, never adopted him. He was baptized in the Episcopal Church in 1812 when Poe was three. The foster father, John Allan, was a very rich Scottish merchant that lived in Richmond, Virginia. He sold goods of tobacco, cloth, wheat, tombstones, and slaves. He spoiled and d... ... middle of paper ... ... Church. It was a small funeral with little fuss. Charles Baudelaire in France heard the news and said it was “almost a suicide, a suicide prepared for a long time.” His legacy influenced a whole new genre of literacy. It influenced not just American but international literature. He was one of the first writers whom developed the genre of detective, fiction, and horror. He is known as the “Architect” of the modern short story. Poe was one of the first critics to focus on style in literary work. Steven King, Clive Barker, and others followed Poe’s footsteps. The genre of horror is bigger than ever today and Edgar Allan Poe was the forefront of this style of writing. French, Italians, and writers in Spanish and Portuguese acknowledge their debts to Poe. If not for Poe, we wouldn’t have all of the great horror and detective films and stories we still read to this day.

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