Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.
Poe’s best known fiction works are Gothic, a genre that he followed to appease the public taste. His most recurring themes deal with questions of death, including its physical signs, the effects of decomposition, concerns of premature burial, the reanimation of the dead, and mourning. Many of his works are generally considered part of the dark romanticism genre which American literary critic Larry P. Mason describes as “a literary response to transcendentalism”, and which is characterized by stories focusing on “the potential for horror existing within man”.
Edgar Allan Poe’s poems were not very popular when he died in 1849. Today he is considered the greatest writer of short stories in American history and one of the greatest contributors to literature in general. Poe’s writing style helped shape the entire detective genre. Edgar Allan Poe’s innovative writing style has had a great impact on American and world literature.
Edgar Allan Poe was a mystery author who based most of his writings off real life experiences that he believed were enhanced for more dramatic effect. Edgar Allan Poe used his own personality with laid back personality to express himself through his writings, giving him a way to convey messages about death and love to give them a personal touch without sounding too official with all the facts and statistics which is what caused Edgar Allan Poe novels to be so popular from early 1800’s up until the early 1900’s.
Edgar Allan Poe also used a different style to convey messages through his writings. Edgar Allan Poe wrote with a lot of emotion and feeling which gave Edgar Allan Poe works a more detailed story that readers can feel as if they are actually there, experiencing everything first hand. Edgar Allan Poe’s writing is easy to understand and follow which makes it an ideal read for newbie Edgar Allan Poe readers or anyone new to reading novels.
Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most mysterious writers in American literature. Edgar is famously known for his writing style which consists of vivid imagery, mystery and suspense. Edgar’s use of imagery has inspired many authors today to use vivid images in their own writings. Edgar loved short stories so much, he wrote hundreds of them! Edgar used dark themes for some of his works, or horror if you will. Edgar also loved poems; more than writing short stories (Shelley 28). Edgar fell in love with poetry at a young age and continued throughout all his life until he died (McGee 246).
Edgar would write about weird topics that nobody else would even think of touching on. Edgar loved the topic of death; it seemed like he was more interested in death and dying than other writers (Shelley 28). Edgar’s use of imagery helped him inspire other authors to write stories with images as well. Edgar also loved writing about the topic of fear; fear is one of Edgar’s earliest memories (Krause 61). Edgar was born January 19, 1809 in Boston Massachusetts (Eminent 22). Edgar was considered as an outcast as a child who never got along with any one (McGee 246).
Edgar believed he was not like anyone else and that made him feel awkward around other kids his age. Edgar spent most of his time alone reading during school and after class because he did not know how to talk to others standing near by. Edgar’s teachers always recognized him for being different; Edgar knew he was different and never tried to fit in (McGee 246). Edgar’s parents both had died early on in Edgar’s life. Edgar’s father David Poe Jr. had died three months before Edgar was born (Shelley 28).
Edgar’s mother Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe passed away of tuberculosis when Edgar was only two years old (Krause 61). Edgar’s was put under the care of John Allan, a Scottish-born tobacco merchant who took Edgar in as one of his own children along with his nine other kids, the youngest being only four weeks older than Edgar himself. John Allan turned out to be not so great at parenting, he would travel for weeks without even saying goodbye to Edgar which made him feel abandoned (McGee 246).
Edgar’s life during his teenage years wasn’t the best. Edgar had decided to leave school and go back home after only a year of attending college at the University of Virginia (Shelley 28). Edgar fell in love with one of Mr. Allan’s daughter, but sadly she was already engaged to another man (Krause 61). Edgar would never get over this heartbreak; he became very ill with depression and drank heavily for months trying to forget her name, which seemed impossible (McGee 246).
After Edgar received an inheritance from Mr. Allan, he decided it would be great to travel around the world (Shelley 29). Edgar got as far as St. Petersburg before turning back due to Edgar’s poor financial situation. Edgar was now twenty-one years old and he had no education, no career, and a broken heart (McGee 246). Edgar decided that if he could not live the life of a writer, Edgar would rather die. Edgar came home to his father-in-law after several months away from home, but much to Edgar’s surprise Mr. Allan kicked Edgar out on the streets because Edgar owed him money (Krause 61).
Edgar decided to join the army, despite his bad health from being so depressed from Olivia Haines’s rejection. Edgar signed up to be an infantry soldier in the war against Canada, which was just beginning at that time (Shelley 29). In 1827 Edgar took part in several battles for America, Edgar hated the war even though Edgar somewhat liked Edgar’s commanding officer (McGee 246). Edgar was honorably discharged in early 1828.
Edgar had spent only about three months in the army when Edgar received an honorable discharge after being sick with fever for so long (Krause 61). Edgar headed back home to Virginia but instead of getting a job right away Edgar decided to continue writing, this time poems instead of short stories. Edgar wrote his first poem “Tamerlane” which became very popular within weeks after it was published by a small newspaper (Shelley 29). Not long after this one poem, Edgar continued to write others quickly gaining fame throughout all of America and then around the world.