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7 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Thinking of choosing Poe? Here's what you need to know!
While Poe wrote many horror stories and ones about supernatural happenings, he goes beyond this scope. He is known also as the father of detective stories. A lot of his stories invite readers in to participate in cracking codes and solving the mysteries. Of these stories, Murders in the Rue Morgue and the Gold Bug are worthwhile reads.
Other famous stories such as "The Tell Heart", "The Pit and the Pendulum", "The House of Usher", and "The Cask of Amontillado" explore the definition of human insanity. Most of his stories end in an ironic and surprising twist so you'll definitely be kept interested as you read. However, keep in mind that his stories can get scary and graphic at times, so don't read them at night! =)
One should keep in mind that Poe only has one short novella. The rest of his works are short stories therefore it gets often hard as you're keeping track of character development. His stories are so quick that if you like to familiarize with your characters when you read, then Poe is not for you.
Overall, Poe writes a variety of stories such as detective, code-crackers, horror, gothic, and at times tragic romance. He explores aspects of the human mind and how society views the insane. He does get repetitive, at times. He writes stories that can be consumed in one sitting and depending on your preference, Poe might be the one for you!
Edgar Allan Poe The first thing you should know about Poe is that his short stories (and his novel) are all unusually dark and mysterious. Whether it be a murder, an accident, or supernatural intervention, Almost 90 % of Poe’s characters are killed, or are murderers. Although many more squeamish readers would consider this a downside of reading Poe, this quality ensures that each of Poe’s stories, each about 10 pages long, are all different, and fun to read. It also ensures that you will rarely get bored with Poe’s stories. One downside that I noticed, however, is that reading excessive Poe can cause dark and morbid thought… The most enjoyable of Poe’s stories are written through they eyes of murderers, such as The Cask of Amontillado, the Black Cat, and The Tell-Tale Heart. If you are a reader that enjoys dark, serious stories, and you are a reader who is not afraid of long, difficult words and thick storylines, than Edgar Allan Poe would be an author you would thoroughly enjoy reading.
Scarlet. R (Dubé) I have been reading Poe for years. He is my all- time favorite writer so I really enjoyed reading and re-reading all his work.
I own a collection of all of his work, and to meet the requirements for the project, that essentially meant reading all of his short stories along with his only novel, Gordon.A.Pym.
It may seem like more reading and a lot to follow compared to those who are doing authors of books, as they only need to read a few of their books. As stated above, if you like dark cryptic tales and enjoy reading a lot of short stories, Poe is the author for you.
Also- I would suggest briefly researching his history as he often uses elements of his life in his writing which can be fun to notice.
The writing, because of my appreciation for Poe- did not seem difficult to me. That being said, it does have the possibility of becoming confusing as there are so many short stories and themes that you would have read for the project. Overall I had a great experience, good luck!
Scarlet. R (Dubé) I have been reading Poe for years. He is my all- time favorite writer so I really enjoyed reading and re-reading all his work.
I own a collection of all of his work, and to meet the requirements for the project, that essentially meant reading all of his short stories along with his only novel, Gordon.A.Pym.
It may seem like more reading and a lot to follow compared to those who are doing authors of books, as they only need to read a few of their books. As stated above, if you like dark cryptic tales and enjoy reading a lot of short stories, Poe is the author for you.
Also- I would suggest briefly researching his history as he often uses elements of his life in his writing which can be fun to notice.
The writing, because of my appreciation for Poe- did not seem difficult to me. That being said, it does have the possibility of becoming confusing as there are so many short stories and themes that you would have read for the project. Overall I had a great experience, good luck!
Originally when I chose Edgar Allen Poe for my Author Thesis, I had this assumption – this stereotype – in my head, which suggested I would be reading stories of the dark, weird of gothic variety. It turns out I was correct, but after reading the complete works of Poe, I also discovered there were concrete real life truism and themes that applied to anyone no matter there tastes or personality. He was part of the era of Transcendentalism, and all of his works – no matter the plot or time period – emphasized the beauty of nature and the corruption of society. These are the same ideals that would have resonated with great American authors like Mark Twain or Zora Neale Hurston. Poe emphasized and embraced creativity, the humanities, and the natural inclinations of humanity over the artificial codes that society has established or dictated, something that suits his own life as his eccentric and broody personality prevented him from really “fitting in” with everyone else. But not only does he have these messages, he also has a wide variety of entertaining stories – fantasy, science fiction, mystery – a little of everything. This variety, combined with his messages, made my choosing of Edgar Allen Poe very worth it.
If you are thinking of choosing Edgar Allan Poe as your author, the first thing you should know is that the vast majority of his writing is short stories and poetry, so your teacher will probably require you to read all of his works. Poe specializes in stories with themes of murder, mystery and the supernatural, so if you are a horror fan like me he is a great author to choose. As a warning, some of his stories do get pretty graphic, so make sure you can handle violence well. Common themes are fairly easy to find throughout his works, and the nice thing about short stories is that you can find lots of content to analyze after only having to read ten pages. Something I found that made this project a little difficult was that it was tricky to find strong quotes that were short and to the point, because Poe is so wordy. His writing can get a little cryptic at some times, so make sure you are skilled in digging deep into the text for analysis. If you enjoy reading fast-paced, dramatic tales and don’t mind the density of 19th century literature, I would definitely suggest Poe.
As an author, I would recommend Poe if you like obscure, dark, and philosophical writing. Poe's work consists of poems, short stories, and a novel. Teachers will encourage you to read as much as possible due to length; his short stories average at only ten pages. I will warn that there is rapid character and plot development, and briefly presented themes, which proved challenging when bring them together in writing. The overall tone of Poe’s work is morbid and dark (which can affect the reader's mindset over time), as I am sure you know from Poe’s most famous works, such as The Raven or The Tell-tale Heart. However, Poe also writes deeply about life philosophy. Nothing is better than the moment in which writing literally takes your breath away with its intensity and voice- I was able to find this by reading Poe, and I hope that you would too.
Now that you have written your essay, we ask that you reflect on the reading portion of the experience and write 100-150 words about your author.
Think of what you write as advice for someone next year and beyond, someone who (like you were doing last fall) is thinking about choosing your author - and maybe even the same three books - to read for the assignment.
7 comments:
Thinking of choosing Poe?
Here's what you need to know!
While Poe wrote many horror stories and ones about supernatural happenings, he goes beyond this scope. He is known also as the father of detective stories. A lot of his stories invite readers in to participate in cracking codes and solving the mysteries. Of these stories, Murders in the Rue Morgue and the Gold Bug are worthwhile reads.
Other famous stories such as "The Tell Heart", "The Pit and the Pendulum", "The House of Usher", and "The Cask of Amontillado" explore the definition of human insanity. Most of his stories end in an ironic and surprising twist so you'll definitely be kept interested as you read. However, keep in mind that his stories can get scary and graphic at times, so don't read them at night! =)
One should keep in mind that Poe only has one short novella. The rest of his works are short stories therefore it gets often hard as you're keeping track of character development. His stories are so quick that if you like to familiarize with your characters when you read, then Poe is not for you.
Overall, Poe writes a variety of stories such as detective, code-crackers, horror, gothic, and at times tragic romance. He explores aspects of the human mind and how society views the insane. He does get repetitive, at times. He writes stories that can be consumed in one sitting and depending on your preference, Poe might be the one for you!
Edgar Allan Poe
The first thing you should know about Poe is that his short stories (and his novel) are all unusually dark and mysterious. Whether it be a murder, an accident, or supernatural intervention, Almost 90 % of Poe’s characters are killed, or are murderers. Although many more squeamish readers would consider this a downside of reading Poe, this quality ensures that each of Poe’s stories, each about 10 pages long, are all different, and fun to read. It also ensures that you will rarely get bored with Poe’s stories. One downside that I noticed, however, is that reading excessive Poe can cause dark and morbid thought… The most enjoyable of Poe’s stories are written through they eyes of murderers, such as The Cask of Amontillado, the Black Cat, and The Tell-Tale Heart. If you are a reader that enjoys dark, serious stories, and you are a reader who is not afraid of long, difficult words and thick storylines, than Edgar Allan Poe would be an author you would thoroughly enjoy reading.
Scarlet. R (Dubé)
I have been reading Poe for years. He is my all- time favorite writer so I really enjoyed reading and re-reading all his work.
I own a collection of all of his work, and to meet the requirements for the project, that essentially meant reading all of his short stories along with his only novel, Gordon.A.Pym.
It may seem like more reading and a lot to follow compared to those who are doing authors of books, as they only need to read a few of their books. As stated above, if you like dark cryptic tales and enjoy reading a lot of short stories, Poe is the author for you.
Also- I would suggest briefly researching his history as he often uses elements of his life in his writing which can be fun to notice.
The writing, because of my appreciation for Poe- did not seem difficult to me. That being said, it does have the possibility of becoming confusing as there are so many short stories and themes that you would have read for the project.
Overall I had a great experience, good luck!
Scarlet. R (Dubé)
I have been reading Poe for years. He is my all- time favorite writer so I really enjoyed reading and re-reading all his work.
I own a collection of all of his work, and to meet the requirements for the project, that essentially meant reading all of his short stories along with his only novel, Gordon.A.Pym.
It may seem like more reading and a lot to follow compared to those who are doing authors of books, as they only need to read a few of their books. As stated above, if you like dark cryptic tales and enjoy reading a lot of short stories, Poe is the author for you.
Also- I would suggest briefly researching his history as he often uses elements of his life in his writing which can be fun to notice.
The writing, because of my appreciation for Poe- did not seem difficult to me. That being said, it does have the possibility of becoming confusing as there are so many short stories and themes that you would have read for the project.
Overall I had a great experience, good luck!
Originally when I chose Edgar Allen Poe for my Author Thesis, I had this assumption – this stereotype – in my head, which suggested I would be reading stories of the dark, weird of gothic variety. It turns out I was correct, but after reading the complete works of Poe, I also discovered there were concrete real life truism and themes that applied to anyone no matter there tastes or personality. He was part of the era of Transcendentalism, and all of his works – no matter the plot or time period – emphasized the beauty of nature and the corruption of society. These are the same ideals that would have resonated with great American authors like Mark Twain or Zora Neale Hurston. Poe emphasized and embraced creativity, the humanities, and the natural inclinations of humanity over the artificial codes that society has established or dictated, something that suits his own life as his eccentric and broody personality prevented him from really “fitting in” with everyone else. But not only does he have these messages, he also has a wide variety of entertaining stories – fantasy, science fiction, mystery – a little of everything. This variety, combined with his messages, made my choosing of Edgar Allen Poe very worth it.
If you are thinking of choosing Edgar Allan Poe as your author, the first thing you should know is that the vast majority of his writing is short stories and poetry, so your teacher will probably require you to read all of his works. Poe specializes in stories with themes of murder, mystery and the supernatural, so if you are a horror fan like me he is a great author to choose. As a warning, some of his stories do get pretty graphic, so make sure you can handle violence well. Common themes are fairly easy to find throughout his works, and the nice thing about short stories is that you can find lots of content to analyze after only having to read ten pages. Something I found that made this project a little difficult was that it was tricky to find strong quotes that were short and to the point, because Poe is so wordy. His writing can get a little cryptic at some times, so make sure you are skilled in digging deep into the text for analysis. If you enjoy reading fast-paced, dramatic tales and don’t mind the density of 19th century literature, I would definitely suggest Poe.
As an author, I would recommend Poe if you like obscure, dark, and philosophical writing. Poe's work consists of poems, short stories, and a novel. Teachers will encourage you to read as much as possible due to length; his short stories average at only ten pages. I will warn that there is rapid character and plot development, and briefly presented themes, which proved challenging when bring them together in writing.
The overall tone of Poe’s work is morbid and dark (which can affect the reader's mindset over time), as I am sure you know from Poe’s most famous works, such as The Raven or The Tell-tale Heart. However, Poe also writes deeply about life philosophy. Nothing is better than the moment in which writing literally takes your breath away with its intensity and voice- I was able to find this by reading Poe, and I hope that you would too.
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