Introduction
Poe's Childhood
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809. His parents were David and Elizabeth Poe. David was born in Baltimore on July 18, 1784. Elizabeth Arnold came to the U.S. from England in 1796 and married David Poe after her first husband died in 1805. They had three children, Henry, Edgar, and Rosalie.
Elizabeth Poe died in 1811, when Edgar was two years old. She was separated from her husband and took their three kids. Henrylived with his grandparents while Edgar was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. John Allan and Rosalie was taken in by another family. John Allan was a successful merchant, so Edgar grew up in good surroundings and went to good schools.
When Poe was six, he went to school in England for five years. He later returned to school in America and continued his studies. Edgar Allan Poe went to the University of Virginia in 1826. Even though John Allan had plenty of money, he only gave Edgar about a third of what he needed. Although Edgar had done well in Latin and French, he started to drink heavily and quickly became in debt. He had to quit school less than a year later.
Poe in the Army
Edgar Allan had no money, no job skills, and had been shunned by John Allan. Edgar went to Boston and joined the U.S. Army in 1827. He was eighteen. He did reasonably well in the Army and attained the rank of sergeant major. In 1829, Mrs. Allan died and John Allan tried to be friendly towards Edgar and signed Edgar's application to West Point.
While waiting to enter West Point, Edgar lived with his grandmother and his aunt, Mrs. Clemm. Also living there was his brother, Henry, and young cousin, Virginia. In 1830, Edgar Allan entered West Point as a cadet. He didn't stay long because John Allan refused to send him any money. It is thought Edgar purposely broke the rules and ignored his duties so he would be dismissed.
A Struggling Writer
In 1831, Edgar Allan Poe went to New York City where he had some of his poetry published. He submitted stories to a number of magazines and they were all rejected. Poe had no friends, no job, and was in financial trouble. He sent a letter to John Allan begging for help but none came. John Allan died in 1834 and did not mention Edgar in his will.
In 1835, Edgar finally got a job as an editor of a newspaper because of a contest he won with his story, The Manuscript Found in a Bottle. In 1836, Edgar married his cousin, Virginia. He was 27 and she was 13. Many sources say Virginia was 14, but this is incorrect. Virginia Clemm was born on August 22, 1822. They were married before her 14th birthday, in May of 1836.
As the editor for the Southern Literary Messenger, Poe successfully managed the paper and increased its circulation from 500 to 3500 copies. But Poe left the paper in early 1836 because he complained of the poor salary. Sometime in 1840, Edgar Poe joined George R. Graham as an editor for Graham's Magazine. During these two years, Poe published his first detective story The Murders in the Rue Morgue. During the time Poe was editor, the circulation of the magazine rose from 5000 to 35,000 copies. Poe left Graham's in 1842 because he wanted to start his own magazine.
Poe found himself without a regular job once again. He tried to start a magazine called The Stylus and failed. In 1845, Poe became an editor at The Broadway Journal. A year later, the Journal ran out of money and Poe was out of a job again. Virginia's health was fading away and Poe was deeply distressed by it. Virginia died in 1847, ten days after Poe birthday.
Poe's Last Days
In June of 1849, Poe left New York and went to Philadelphia, where he visited his friend John Sartain. Poe left Philadelphia in July and came to Richmond. He stayed at the Swan Tavern Hotel but joined "The Sons of Temperance" in an effort to stop drinking. He renewed a boyhood romance with Sarah Royster Shelton and planned to marry her in October.
On September 27, Poe left Richmond for New York. He went to Philadelphia and stayed with a friend named James P. Moss. On September 30, he meant to go to New York but supposedly took the wrong train to Baltimore. On October 3, Poe was found at Gunner's Hall and was taken to the hospital. He lapsed in and out of consciousness, but was never able to explain exactly what happened to him. Edgar Allan Poe died in the hospital on Sunday, October 7, 1849.
Task
Write an Obituary
You and your group will study various aspects of Edgar Allan Poe's life, including the time period, culture, his literature, personal life, and Gothic literature. Your goal is to solve the death of Edgar Allan Poe and write his obituary. Find credible sources to support your research and write a hypothesis of how he died.
Process
Directions:
1) Within your group, divide yourselves into the following categories: Reporter, Detective, Editor, and Historian. Keep in mind everyone is expected to research and write Edgar Allan Poe's obituary.
2) Once you have decided each person's role, please inform me. 3) Do your research on the websites provided and take notes to share with the rest of your group. You may use other sources, but make sure they are credible. 4) Work together and collaborate what information is important to include in your obituary of Poe. Remember to include Poe's personal life, his literature, culture, and Gothic literature. 5) After analyzing your information, decide as a group how to write Poe's obituary. Refer to the criteria you must include: personal life, literature, Gothic literature, family, and any details about his death. State your theory how Poe died. Was it a natural death? Disease? Foul play? What happened? 7) Write your obituary. Look up examples of obituaries to help create and write your own. Do not copy Poe's original obituary or you will receive a zero. Be creative! Your obituary must be at least two pages long. The following are sources students may use in each of their roles: Reporter:
http://www.online-literature.com/poe/
http://www.poestories.com/biography.php
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/wright/teachers/pdf/language/Newspaper_Article.pdf
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/books/blog/2008/10/poes_obituary_in_the_sun.html
http://www.matthewpearl.com/poe/deathdossier.html
Detective:
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/celebrity/edgar_allan_poe/index.html
http://www.online-literature.com/poe/
http://www.eapoe.org/geninfo/poedeath.htm
http://www.matthewpearl.com/poe/deathdossier.html
Editor:
http://www.online-literature.com/poe/
http://www.poestories.com/biography.php
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/books/blog/2008/10/poes_obituary_in_the_sun.html
http://www.matthewpearl.com/poe/deathdossier.html
Historian:
http://www.online-literature.com/poe/
http://www.poestories.com/biography.php
http://www.matthewpearl.com/poe/deathdossier.html
http://www.poemuseum.org/life.php
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Pe-Pu/Poe-Edgar-Allan.html
Evaluation
Expectations
Students will be graded on the following criteria for their obituary assignment:
1) Students must demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of Poe's life by researching credible sources to support their claims.
2) Each person withing the group must distribute work accordingly and everyone's role is clearly defined in the project.
3) The group states a chronology of events in Poe's life and makes a realistic hypothesis about his death.
4) The obituary is at least two pages. It includes significant research about Poe's life and sources are appropriately sited.
5) The obituary contains no errors and is visually appealing.
6) Students will not read their obituary. Instead, they will summarize their reasearch and share what they found and learned with the class. The presentation should be short and the group must share their hypothesis of how Poe died. Group members are required to ask questions and engage in classroom discussion.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The purpose of this assingment is for students to not only learn about Edgar Allan Poe, but to also understand his life and how his work revolutionized the literary world. Although he struggled and his work was rejected, Poe is considered one of the greatest Gothic writers in history because he used his experiences to write macabre tales and stories.
My goal is for students to learn how to research and acquire credible sources, summarize and read information with a critical eye, and convey their thoughts in meaningful way. I want my students to learn how to take information and write it in their own words, be creative, and make a hypothesis of how Edgar Allan Poe died.
Credits
Works Cited
http://www.online-literature.com/poe/
http://www.poestories.com/biography.php
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/wright/teachers/pdf/language/Newspaper_Article.pdf
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/books/blog/2008/10/poes_obituary_in_the_sun.html
http://www.matthewpearl.com/poe/deathdossier.html
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/celebrity/edgar_allan_poe/index.html
http://www.online-literature.com/poe/
http://www.eapoe.org/geninfo/poedeath.htm
http://www.matthewpearl.com/poe/deathdossier.html
http://www.online-literature.com/poe/
http://www.poestories.com/biography.php
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/books/blog/2008/10/poes_obituary_in_the_sun.html
http://www.matthewpearl.com/poe/deathdossier.html
http://www.online-literature.com/poe/
http://www.poestories.com/biography.php
http://www.matthewpearl.com/poe/deathdossier.html
http://www.poemuseum.org/life.php
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Pe-Pu/Poe-Edgar-Allan.html