Edgar Allan Poe Biography

INSTRUCTIONS: Answer the following questions while watching the video

(complete sentences are NOT necessary).

1. When and where was Edgar Allan Poe born?

2. What happened to Edgar Allan Poes father?

3. How did his mother die? How would seeing someone so close to you suffer like
this affect you?

4. What were some differences between Edgar Allan Poe and his new foster father,
John Allan?

5. What were some interests of Edgar Allan Poe, other than his writing?

6. How did he feel towards his new foster father?

7. Where did he attend school? What happened to him there and why did he leave?

8. Whom did he go to after the military?

9. When Poes foster father died, what did Edgar inherit?

10.What kind of editor was Poe for the Southern Literary Messenger and
Gentlemans Magazine?

11.What caused him to go into his worst drinking binge?

12.How does he feel towards his cousin Virginia? What are some names he uses to
refer to her?

13.What type of relationship do Edgar and Virginia have?

14.What events in his life gave him inspiration to write?

15.Why did he create the detective story? Who is his detective?

16.What in the Tell-Tale Heart resembles events in his life?

17.What disease has killed all of the women he has loved?

18.Which of his writings shot him to fame during this time?

19.What did the townspeople do in response to The Raven?

20.What was The Raven about symbolically?

21.Who does Lenoir Symbolize?

22.How did Edgar cope with Virginias last years?

23.Where did he move her?

24.How did he feel during this time?

25.How did he immortalize Virginia during the last year of his own life?

26.How does he handle his life now that Virginia is gone?

27.How does Edgar Allan Poe feel towards women?

28.What happened to his drinking habit?

29.What are some theories on his death?

30.What were his last words?

The Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe

This episode of Biography tells the story of th
e uncontested master of the macabre, Edgar Allan
Poe. Poe's haunting poems and chilling stories established him as one of the
most important men
of American letters. But behind his popularity an
d artistic success was a personal life defined by
broken hopes and failures.
The Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe
explores the bouts of depression and
addiction that tormented the man and gave
birth to his dark and brilliant art.
Discussion Questions
Directions: Use your notes from class to
answer the following questions on looseleaf
1.
It is said that Edgar Allan
Poe was both blessed and cursed by his genius. How could his
genius be both a blessing and a curse?
2.
Edgar Allan Poe loved and respected women. He
spent most of his time in their company,
and sought solace and peace in their compani
onship. How did his experiences with women
influence his writing?
3.
Edgar Allan Poe's stepfather disinherited him
and cut him out of his life. How did Poe's

bitterness toward his stepfa

ther influence his life?
4.
Most of the hardships of Edgar Allan Poe's
life were his of his own making. How was Poe
his own worst enemy?
5.
How are Poe's stories rooted in th
e grim reality of his own life?
6.
Poe is considered the "father of the detective story." Why is this so?
7.
Tuberculosis, which we rarely hear of today, killed Poe's mother, stepmother
and wife.
Why was this disease so devastating in Poe's era, and why is the threat today
so minimal?
8.
Edgar Allan Poe died over a century ago in poverty and despair.
Yet, today his stories and poems are more popular than ever. Why do you
think his work is so enduring?
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