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1、Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe(1809 1849) (1809 1849)NAMEEdgar Allan PoeNATIONALITYAmericaBORN1809.1.19 DIED1849.10.7 BIRTHPLACEBoston PROFESSIONPoet, fictionist, critic GRADUATEDUniversity of Virginia ACHIEVEMENT SDetective story Horror fiction Consequentialism MAGNUM OPUS The Fall of the House of
2、Usher The Black Cat The RavenIntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroductionEdgar Allan Poe (1809 1849) was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest Ameri
3、can practitioners of the short story and is generally 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 f
4、inancially difficult life and career.LifeLifeLifeLifeHe was born as Edgar Poe in Boston, Massachusetts; he was orphaned young when his mother died shortly after his father abandoned the family. Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan, He attended the University of Virginia for one semester but le
5、ft due to lack of money. After enlisting in the Army and later failing as an officers cadet at West Point, Poe parted ways with the Allans. His publishing career began humbly, with an anonymous collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), credited only to “a Bostonian“.In January 1845 Poe
6、published his poem, “The Raven“, to instant success. On October 7, 1849, at age 40, Poe died in Baltimore; the cause of his death is unknown and has been variously attributed to alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, and other agents.Poe and his work
7、s influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields, such as cosmology and cryptography. Poe and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature, music, films, and television. A number of his homes are dedicated museums today. The Mystery Writ
8、ers of America present an annual award known as the Edgar Award for distinguished work in the mystery genre.Rufus Griswold wrote a biographical article of Poe called “Memoir of the Author“, which he included in an 1850 volume of the collected works. Griswold depicted Poe as a depraved, drunk, drug-
9、addled madman and included Poes letters as evidence. Many of his claims were either lies or distorted half-truths. For example, it is now known that Poe was not a drug addict. Griswolds book was denounced by those who knew Poe well, but it became a popularly accepted one. This occurred in part becau
10、se it was the only full biography available and was widely reprinted and in part because readers thrilled at the thought of reading works by an “evil“ man. Letters that Griswold presented as proof of this depiction of Poe were later revealed as forgeries.Griswolds “Memoir“Poes best known fiction wor
11、ks are Gothic, a genre 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. Beyond horror, Poe also wrote satires, humor ta
12、les, and hoaxes. For comic effect, he used irony and ludicrous extravagance, often in an attempt to liberate the reader from cultural conformity. Poe also reinvented science fiction, responding in his writing to emerging technologies such as hot air balloons in “The Balloon-Hoax“.Poe wrote much of h
13、is work using themes aimed specifically at mass-market tastes. To that end, his fiction often included elements of popular pseudosciences such as phrenology and physiognomy.GenresGenresPoes writing reflects his literary theories, which he presented in his criticism and also in essays such as “The Po
14、etic Principle“. He disliked didacticism and allegory, though he believed that meaning in literature should be an undercurrent just beneath the surface. Works with obvious meanings, he wrote, cease to be art. He believed that work of quality should be brief and focus on a specific single effect. To
15、that end, he believed that the writer should carefully calculate every sentiment and idea.In “The Philosophy of Composition“, an essay in which Poe describes his method in writing “The Raven“, he claims to have strictly followed this method. It has been questioned, however, whether he really followe
16、d this system. Literary theoryLiterary theoryWorksWorksWorksWorksPoetry Al AaraafAnnabel LeeThe BellsThe City in the SeaThe Conqueror WormA Dream Within a DreamEldoradoEulalieThe Haunted PalaceTo HelenLenoreTamerlaneThe RavenUlalumeTales The Black CatThe Cask of AmontilladoA Descent into the MaelstrmThe Facts in the Case of M. ValdemarThe Fall of the House of UsherThe Gold-BugHop-FrogThe Im
