English 103 Essay
The cult of solitary genius
The mysterious death and the mysterious visitor
Poe’s Early Life: born in 1809 raised by foster family, the Allans in 1826, began (but never graduated) from University of Virginia served in the army admitted to West point but discharged in 1831
1827 published book of poetry and also in 1829 paid to have previous books published married to 13 year old cousin, Virginia Clemm on May 16, 1836. Virginia died in 1847
Poe’s Editorial Career:
1835, Assistant Editor of The Southern Literary Messenger, worked for 2 years
1839, Assistant Editor of Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine
1840, assistant at Graham’s Magazine
1844, editor of The Broadway Journal
Poe’s Literary Career:
Loved to trick his audiences, and to provoke controversy
Important and often rude book reviewer
Played hoaxes on his public -- 1844 Balloon Hoax in New York Sun
Engineered cryptographs in print, and made himself look like a genius when he solved them
Was fascinated by all forms of print, reading widely and deeply
Dedicated to the possibility he could make a living as a writer
Fascinated by how one could manipulate an audience
Poe’s Publication History:
Published volumes of poetry, individual poems, short stories in gothic genre
Fascinated by fads and trends, esp. when organized around radical dissociation of consciousness from the body
Interested in mesmerism (hypnotism)
Gothic Genre:
- Texts that are account of cultural and psychic dislocation
What is the interior of a person really like?
Gothic texts work by doubling
Use exterior world as a double of the interior world, and project human emotions and feelings on exterior world
What does a double do?:
Exteriorizes the inward self, creating another body and set of intentions for an inner conflict
Embodies the disorder and imbalance of a character
Reveals that the self as a coherent, knowable, balanced personality, is a
The mysterious death and the mysterious visitor
Poe’s Early Life: born in 1809 raised by foster family, the Allans in 1826, began (but never graduated) from University of Virginia served in the army admitted to West point but discharged in 1831
1827 published book of poetry and also in 1829 paid to have previous books published married to 13 year old cousin, Virginia Clemm on May 16, 1836. Virginia died in 1847
Poe’s Editorial Career:
1835, Assistant Editor of The Southern Literary Messenger, worked for 2 years
1839, Assistant Editor of Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine
1840, assistant at Graham’s Magazine
1844, editor of The Broadway Journal
Poe’s Literary Career:
Loved to trick his audiences, and to provoke controversy
Important and often rude book reviewer
Played hoaxes on his public -- 1844 Balloon Hoax in New York Sun
Engineered cryptographs in print, and made himself look like a genius when he solved them
Was fascinated by all forms of print, reading widely and deeply
Dedicated to the possibility he could make a living as a writer
Fascinated by how one could manipulate an audience
Poe’s Publication History:
Published volumes of poetry, individual poems, short stories in gothic genre
Fascinated by fads and trends, esp. when organized around radical dissociation of consciousness from the body
Interested in mesmerism (hypnotism)
Gothic Genre:
- Texts that are account of cultural and psychic dislocation
What is the interior of a person really like?
Gothic texts work by doubling
Use exterior world as a double of the interior world, and project human emotions and feelings on exterior world
What does a double do?:
Exteriorizes the inward self, creating another body and set of intentions for an inner conflict
Embodies the disorder and imbalance of a character
Reveals that the self as a coherent, knowable, balanced personality, is a