Abstract
The author of this paper examines how Edgard Allan Poe's own life's obstacles influenced and inspired the writing of "The Masque of the Red Death." One specific source of inspiration involves Poe's foster father, John Allan, ignoring Poe's pleas for help in assisting his wife, who was ill with tuberculosis. In the story, the audacity of Prince Prospero holding a ball while the outside world dies can be taken as a symbol that reflects John Allan ignoring Poe's many pleas for assistance. There is no compassion in the prince just as John Allan felt no compassion for Poe. "The Masque of the Red Death" is Edgar Allan Poe's literary way of exposing the truly wicked ways of his enemies and visiting upon them the most horrible punishment he can imagine to serve them justice for their crimes.

From the Paper
"Edgar had never forgiven John Allan and despised everything that he had and Edgar did not. This hatred extended from solely John Allan to any wealthy person who was not willing to help or at least acknowledge his own genius. Nathanial Hawthorne was one such person who was so fascinated with Edgar's tales that he took the time to write him a rather cordial letter expressing his admiration for his earnest criticism and writing ability. On the other hand Edgar felt very slighted and unappreciated compared to many of his literary peers. "He could not stand to see other writers, such as Henry Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson and James Russell Lowell, earn more praise and money than he did" (Streissguth 79). Aristocracy seemed to hold Edgar down and when examining "The Masque of the Red Death" we see the revenge that he would wish extracted upon them. Prince Prospero is the embodiment of John Allan and all other men who possessed wealth, but refused to come to his aid. It is possible that Edgar desired the very pestilence that had haunted him for so many years to go forth and destroy those who never knew want or suffered from financial trouble. What better way to see his enemies destroyed than by the disease he was most familiar with?"

Tags:edgar, allan, poe, masque, red, death, tuberculosis

Abstract
This paper compares and contrasts Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Cask of Amontillado". The paper focuses on the compelling nature of the Gothic horror tales and includes a brief biography of Poe's life.

From the Paper
"Edgar Allan Poe was born to David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe. Poe was orphaned at the age of three and was taken into the home of John Allan, a prosperous merchant in Richmond, Virginia, and rebaptized as Edgar Allan Poe. An uneventful childhood included five years of schooling in England and only a year of study at the University of Virginia where he was forced..."

Tags:Edgar Allan Poe, short stories, Gothic, Horrow

Abstract
This paper examines some of the contributions of Edgar Allan Poe's only novel, "Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket". It examines in particular the ways in which Poe approaches the foreign and the different, in this work as well as adjacent works. It analyzes the introduction of the strong and sometimes hidden elements of horror in Poe's works.

From the Paper
"The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838) is the only novel written by Edgar Allan Poe, and yet despite this singularity it is in fundamental ways connected to the rest of his body of work as well as to other important works of 19th century American fiction. This paper examines some of the contributions of this novel, examining in particular the ways in which Poe approaches the foreign and the different a concept that was in many ways (some explicit, some deeply encoded) a proxy for race in both the work in question and that of other works adjacent in time and theme to Poe's novel, especially that of Herman Melville's Moby Dick (1851)."

Tags:Edgar, Allan, Poe, Nantucket, Pym, horror

Abstract
This paper is a comparison and contrast of Edgar Allan Poe's two styles of writing: the gothic genre of Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" and the detective genre of "The Purloined Letter". The paper includes topics such as diction and the ease or difficulty in the ability to read and comprehend Poe's stories.

From the Paper
"Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most well known names in literature. He was a short story writer, a poet, a literary critic, a journalist, an editor, an essayist and novelist. Edgar Allen Poe virtually created the detective story genre and perfected the psychological thriller. Poe is celebrated as one of America's greatest writers of short stories but his first published works were poems. Arguably, the most prominent feature of Edgar Allen Poe's writing is his obsession with death."

Tags:Poe, Edgar Allan, comparison, contrast, literary style, diction, genre, gothic, detective, science fiction, biography

Abstract
This paper looks at Edgar Allan Poe, his life and his work, and how they were affected by alcoholism. It looks at how the theme of alcoholism crept into his stories by having alcoholics as characters, or characters descending into madness from drinking. It shows that despite his drinking problems, Poe produced masterpieces that have world wide acclaim and are still high on the reading list of mystery lovers today.

Tags:Edgar Allan Poe, alcoholism

Abstract
Metaphors not only can be used as literal interpretation of events, but also have metaphorical meanings. A good example would be the black cat in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat" and how the narrator in the story implied throughout the story that the cat is of demonic creature. The black cat in the short story not only has a literal meaning of a normal household cat but also from a metaphorical-side of meaning, as the narrator's personal demon, which haunts him throughout the story and brings him to the point of near insanity.

From the Paper
"The first mention of the black cat in the short story is when the narrator's wife noticed his partiality for domestic pets and "lost no opportunity of procuring those of the most agreeable kind" (894), which includes a black cat. In the beginning, the narrator describes the cat as a "large and beautiful animal, entirely black, and sagacious to a degree" (894). When he describes the cat in this way, the narrator gave us his view of the cat as an everyday, normal household cat that people who have had an encounter with cats can feel a real connection to. Even though some people might have the superstitious belief that an entirely black cat might be a minion of the underworld or a witch in disguise which his wife did when she "made frequent allusions to the ancient popular notion" (894), the narrator tries his best to also show that this is a normal cat like any other. The narrator also gives the pet the name of Pluto, which is the name for the god of the underworld in Roman mythology. By doing this, he further connects the black cat of his to something from the underworld. He also calls what he sees when he went back to check out the ruins of his house that burned down as an apparition (895) and a "phantasm of the cat" (896). An apparition is a ghost or spirit and by following what the narrator describes, his view of the black cat goes from a normal household pet to something that haunts him for months. The loss of the cat not only brought him remorse at what he did to the cat when he hung it on a rope but also regret at the loss of a fine pet."

Tags:allan, black, cat, edgar, poemetaphors, hate, demon, narrator, literal, short, story

Abstract
This paper reviews the work of Edgar Allan Poe, one of America's legendary elite, in particular it examines how his literature is very much diverse and his psychology unique. It examines how his work often centers upon interior crises where the human mind is under assault and its primary nemesis is itself. Through a review of the stories "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The IMP of the Perverse" and the "The Cask of Amontillado," it discusses how, with sufficient evidence of human destruction, Poe challenges the human mind with an efficient philosophy and meaningful psychology.

From the Paper
"In "The Tell-Tale Heart" we find a perfect example of Poe's psychological complexity in action. One author writes, "This trademark horror tale shows Poe at the height of his imaginative and artistic powers, with its boldly original story line, exquisitely rendered form, and psychological complexity" (Nesbitt 239). While reading the story we find a nameless narrator reminiscing on how he actually formulated the idea of killing an elderly man. In addition, we know that there is no real objective of the killer other than the old man's annoying eye, which to the narrator is symbolic of a predator."

Tags:allan, amontillado, cask, complexity, critic, edgar, heart, imp, literary, literature, mind, perverse, poe, psychology, tale, tell, works

Abstract
This paper explores two stories by Edgar Allen Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher", and "The Pit and the Pendulum". These stories are considered in relation to a poem Poe wrote called, "For Annie", a verse written for a friend of his, Annie Richmond. The theme of this paper is about "darkness," where darkness is a metaphor that imbues Poe's horror stories with themes of consciousness and experiences with terror. Because Poe was especially interested in the susceptibility of the imagination, this paper attempts to "imagine" Edgar Allen Poe in relation to varying metaphors of darkness that characterize the author's life and literature.

Abstract
This paper presents an overview of the poetic relationship between the Edgar Allen Poe and his brother, Henry, and how that is reflected in Edgar Poe's poetry.

From the Paper
In late October of 1829, Edgar Poe wrote one of his most revealing letters to his friend and confidant John Neal, editor of the Yankee magazine of Portland, Maine, in which he declares "there can be no tie more strong than that of brother for brother. . . their affections are always running in the same direction the same channel and cannot help mingling." These "affections" generally concern the familial ties of Henry and Edgar Poe, but a deeper interpretation lies within the kinship associated with their poetry composed between 1827 and 1831, a consociation infused with states of extreme melancholy, a fascination with the dead and lucid dreaming which conveys "a collaborative attempt to give their kindred feelings a single voice."

Tags:american, exposition, poetry

Abstract
This paper is a biographical overview of J. Edgar Hoover and his role as director of the FBI. The author details his five decades of reform, power and how he abused it. The paper also examines his controversial personality and lifestyle.

From the paper:

"The life and legacy of J. Edgar Hoover is a subject of countless books, files and theories. Rumors surrounding this man run rampant. He single-handedly created the FBI we know today, but through a scheme of illegal and amoral activities. Hoover was the most effective and powerful director of the FBI, from 1924 to 1972. He created the FBI as a separate and distinct faction of the Department of Justice, and garnered public support for his activities. He fought communism, espionage, foreign sabotage, and organized crime. Ruthless in his ways, cunning in his schemes, Hoover?s influence on past and current laws and enforcement goes unchecked and unmatched by any other."

Tags:agencies, crime, eisenhower, fbi, fdr, homosexuality, intelligence, kennedy, nixon, organized, racism