Edgar Allan Poe

A webquest about Edgar Allan Poe begins our new quarter. Basic information, and some other details. Voila!

Edgar Allan Poe

1. Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, MA. He died of mysterious causes on October 7, 1849.

Source: http://www.nndb.com/people/469/000022403/

2. Tragic events in Poe's early life which influenced his writing may have been his father's abondonment and mother's death. He was also adopted by a childless couple, Mr. and Mrs. John Allan.

Source: http://www.poestories.com/biography.php

3. Five of the theories surrounding Poe's mysterious death are (1) beating, (2) epilepsy, (3) rabies, (4) murder, and (5) diabetes.

Source: http://www.poemuseum.org/life-death.php

4. According to the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, Poe called the state of Virginia home.

Source: http://www.poemuseum.org/life.php

6. The West Point Military Academy expelled Poe in March 1831.

Source: http://www.nndb.com/people/469/000022403/

7. Poe secretly married his thirteen-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm, when he was twenty-six.

Source; http://www.baltimorecity.gov/Government/BoardsandCommissions/HistoricalArchitecturalPreservation/PoeBaltimore.aspx

9. "Murders in the Rue Morgue" is considered the first detective story or murder mystery.
Source: http://www.editoreric.com/greatlit/books/MurdersRueMorgue.html
11. "The Raven" was published on January 29, 1845.

Source: http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides2/Raven.html

12. The portrait of Poe, "Pratt daguerroeotype, 1849" looks the most like the Edgar Allan Poe that I envision. This is because he looks just a little crazy in this picture, which is how I have always thought of him. At the same time though, he looks intelligent and like he lives in an elegant society, though he may not quite belong there.

Source: http://poestories.com/view.php?photo=42bfa6d8289f9

14. I signed the guestbook at poestories.com.

Source: http://poestories.com/guestbook.php
Image Source: http://medchrome.com/extras/stories/berenice-by-edgar-allan-poe/

Reflection: Overall, I think that Edgar Allan Poe was brilliant but a bit crazy. He had good reason to write tragedy and haunting poems though, seeing all the tragic things that happened to him as a young child. It seems like there are many conflicting facts about his life all over the internet and it is very hard to distinguish the right from the wrong. The mystery surrounding his death is also very interesting. It seems as though Poe's real life was almost as tragic and haunting as one of his stories.