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 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 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 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
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 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 discusses and reflects upon the lonely and difficult life of Edgar Allan Poe. The paper explains that Poe suffered from depression for most of his life and that it was this depression that eventually caused his early death. The paper uses the poetry of Poe as well as biographical information to reflect on the American poet's life.

From the Paper
""Helen, they beauty is to me Like those Nicean barks of yore, That gently, o'er a perfumed sea, The weary, way-worn wanderer bore To his own native shore" (Barnet, Berman, and Burto 697). This is the first verse of the poem called, "To Helen," and it is only one of many poems and writings that Edgar Allan Poe wrote during his life. "Helen of Troy, [was] considered the most beautiful woman of ancient times" (Barnet, Berman, and Burto 697). No doubt, Edgar Allen Poe was touched by her beauty and moved to write this poem. Poe's biography will show that his life was difficult due to losing both of his parents before the age of three. This and the lost of his wife caused Poe to suffer with depression. This depression is what finally caused him to die at an early age. Looking at the biography and..."

Tags:poetry, biography, poe

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
The paper looks at the theme of death in the poetry of one of America's great storytellers and argues that his poetry was a means of exploring his own apparent fatalism. Furthermore, the paper argues that Poe uses poetic devices like apostrophe, rhyme scheme and graphic metaphors to express his own philosophical musings on death and his own desire for egress and transcendence. The paper demonstrates how the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe was the one means by which he could probe the dark recesses of his own psyche and articulate his own morbid sadness.

Tags:poe, death, theme

Abstract
This paper examines the personal and historical context of Edgar Allan Poe's work. It focuses in on Poe's handling of human nature in three stories: "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Tale-Tell Heart," and "The Black Cat," and the poem, "The Raven."

From the Paper
"Edgar Allan Poe is known as the writer of ghost stories .And while it's certainly true that many of his tales have the requisite elements of ghost stories, ghoulies and ghosties and things that go bump in the night, they are much more than simply attempt to .."

Tags:poe, civil war, romanticism, raven