Edgar Allan Poe - The Master of the Macabre

Introduction

He's the Master of the Macabre, the Father of the Detective Story, and his images haunt pop culture 150 years after his mysterious death. 

Today you will use several sites to complete a two part webquest: part one focusing on Poe's epic poem, "The Raven," and part two investigating Poe's untimely--and mysterious--death.

Poe

Task

Who was Edgar Allan Poe and why was he considered the master of the macabre and the father of the modern short story?  What is American Gothic?

In this WebQuest, you will find the answers to these questions.

Process

Task 1: "The Raven"

Task 2: Poe's Mysterious Death

  • Visit "Knowing Poe" and click to launch the interactive quest entitled, "It'll Be the Death of Me..."  http://knowingpoe.thinkport.org/person/death.asp
  • Find the "file cabinet" in the library basement--you'll know it when you see it.
  • Read the clues located in each folder in the file, and jot your notes down on your worksheet.
  • When you reach the end of the interactive journey, you will need to select what you feel is the most likely cause of Poe's death. 
  • Upon completion of the tutorial, briefly summarize the reason for your choice on your worksheet.  This "diagnosis" and your explanation will serve as your "exit card" for today.

Task 3:  The Masque of the Red Death

  • Click the link below and view Parts One and Two of the short story "The Masque of the Red Death" at my Teacher Website.
  • The Masque of the Red Death
Evaluation

Your evaluation on this WebQuest will be based on the quality of the work that you turn in on the worksheets.

Conclusion

Born January 19, 1809, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. American short-story writer, poet, critic, and editor Edgar Allan Poe's tales of mystery and horror initiated the modern detective story, and the atmosphere in his tales of horror is unrivaled in American fiction. His poem The Raven (1845) numbers among the best-known poems in national literature.

Credits

Compiled by Beth Everett 2015

Teacher Page

Refer to “The Raven: Study Guide” and answer the following:

  1. What is the effect of using the word “chamber” instead of “bedroom” to establish the setting?

 

  1. How is the mental state of the narrator described?

 

  1. Read the excerpt from the poem below.  Identify the following literary devices:
    1. Underline an example of alliteration by underlining the first letters of the words
    2. Circle two examples of internal rhyme (circle both words that rhyme)
    3. Draw a box around an example of end rhyme
    4. Diagram the rhyme scheme

(The examples in the 1st two lines are done for you)

 

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,               A
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore--                               B
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping--rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door--
     Only this and nothing more."

 

  1. Whom do some scholars believe “Lenore” represents in the poem? 

 

  1. IN YOUR OWN WORDS, briefly summarize the events of the poem below: 

 

 

 

 

  1. Refer to “The Interactive Raven” and write down the meaning of the following words:

  1. Surcease –
  2. Entreating –
  3. Implore –
  4. Countenance –
    1. Dirges –
    2. Seraphim –
    3. Respite –
    4. Quaff –

  1. Find one more example in the poem of each:
    1. Alliteration -
    2. Internal rhyme -
    3. End rhyme –

Visit “Knowing Poe: It’ll Be the Death of Me” to complete the following worksheet. 

 

  1. In the basement of the library, you will find a filing cabinet.  The tabs are labeled as follows:

ð       Poisoning

ð       Consumption

ð       In His Brain

ð       Heart of Poe

ð       Gas Lighting

ð       New Theory – Cats

ð       Crooked Elections

ð       Alcoholism?

 

Read each file thoroughly, and record the evidence for and against each theory of what caused Poe’s death.  The first example is done for you. 

 

ð       In His Brain:  Poe’s doctor said he had brain fever, and modern doctors say a twisted looking face is evidence of brain lesions, but there was never an autopsy to prove it. 

 

ð       Poisoning

 

ð       Consumption

 

ð       Heart of Poe

 

ð       Gas Lighting

 

ð       New Theory – Cats

 

ð       Crooked Elections

 

ð       Alcoholism?

 

What cause of death do you find the most convincing?