Edgar Allan Poe Questions

What did Poe consider to be the “heaviest” of all his “trials”?

the “want of parental affection” (to be noticed by his parents)

Describe the events that led Edgar to be an orphan by his third birthday.

• father was a mediocre traveling actor (never home to family)

• mother was an actress deserted by her husband when raising a young child, died on tour in Richmond, Virginia

Who was Edgar taken in by as a boy?

John and Frances Allen, a charitable couple in Richmond (John became his guardian/educator)

Frances Allen was kind to Edgar, but he grew up feeling what?

the lack of a natural father, and the disapproval of his foster father

What contributed to Edgar’s moodiness?

John’s disappointment in Poe’s criticism and idleness, indifference to business life, and his literary ambitions

Why did Poe go into debt while at the Universtiy of Virginia?

he tried to earn extra money in gambling (not successful)

Why did Poe run off to Boston?

to “make his own way in the world”

Why was Poe’s aunt? Where did she live?

Maria Poe Clemm, living in Baltimore, Maryland

Whom did Poe marry in 1835?

Maria Clemm’s 13-year-old daughter, Virginia (his cousin)

What brought the three of them (Maria, Virginia, and Edgar) together?

the need and sense of a family

How did Poe support his family (the Clemm’s)?

he worked as an editor at multiple newspaper companies

What part of Poe’s writing had the greatest effect on other writers?

his short stories

Poe laid the foundations for what type of modern story?

“The Purloined Letter” and “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (detective story)

Poe was a master of what?

the psychological thriller

What did Poe want to do with the creation of his characters?

take people behind the curtain that “separates us from the incredible”

Our text states that through his writing, Poe wanted to leave behind the rational world and discover the unsettling truth that lies in the (1.)_____, (2.)_____ depths of the (3.)_____ _____.

1. dark

2. irrational

3. human mind

Poe produced a “considerable body of work.” He accomplished this despite what problems?

humiliating poverty, and a severe drinking problem

Why did Poe drink?

to “escape a reality he found agonizing”

What brought Poe to at least a little fame?

his poem “The Raven” in 1845

Explain the circumstances around Poe’s death: (3 facts)

1. he was returning home from a woman he hoped to marry in Virginia

2. he was found in a Baltimore tavern in cheap, wet clothing that was not his (1 week after his return during a storm)

3. 4 days later, having passed in and out of delirium (mental confusion), he passed away

What sound device is the repetition of similar sounds, usually consonants, at the beginnings of words?

alliteration

What sound device is the repetition of consonant sounds at the end or middle of words?

consonance

What sound device is the repetition of vowel sounds in the middle or ends of words?

assonance

When and where was Poe born?

Boston, Massachusetts in 1809

What happened to Poe’s father?

he abandoned Poe at the age of 1 and then passed away

What were some differences between Poe and his new foster father, John Allen?

Poe was brilliant and a genius at a young age, while John, was a tobacco merchant, and Poe’s educator. (view on women)

How did Poe feel about John Allen?

He felt negatively due to the fact that Allen gave him money to go to college, but not for food, housing, or transportation, while treating Poe in a rude manner growing up.

What did Poe pick as his new name, and where?

He chose Edgar Perry in the army to where he excelled as a soldier.

When Poe’s father passed, what did he inherit?

Absolutely nothing. Allen left him out of the will and told him he “deserved nothing”

What caused Poe to go into his worst drinking binge?

Maria Clemm (aunt), told him that his love (cousin) Virginia was to live with another person

How did Poe feel towards Virginia, and what did he call her?

she was his “only hold on life”, he loves Virginia and he does not want to lose her. he called her “my love, my wifey, etc”

What type of relationship did Edgar and Virginia have? What age was Virginia according to the marital status?

a “happy, loving, and devoted couple” (her age was changed to 21)

What events in his life gave him the inspiration to write?

the sad events of losing those he loved

What in the “Tell-Tale Heart” resembles events in his life?

the main character who is trying to maintain control over his own sanity

What disease killed all of the women he loved?

tuberculosis

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

The Raven

What did people do in response to “The Raven”?

children would follow him as the Raven, it scared people, and he made only $14 in profit

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

he moved them to New York, poverty-stricken, to live in slow and silence

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

he laid on her grave, cried himself to sleep, and wrote the poem Anabelle Lee

How did Poe feel about women?

he believe he “cannot survive without the air of a feminine soulmate'“ in his life” also calling them “angels of mercy”

What happened to his drinking habit after Virginia passed?

it became much worse because he was going completely insane being all alone

What is a theory on his death?

he was drugged and a victim of political kidnapping (used to vote multiple times)

What were his last words?

“God, help my poor soul”