...readers, the name of Edgar Allan Poe has become a byword for horror and fear. Moreover, the images and motifs created by the novelist had an immense influence on the following generations and works of other authors, so that they even became immersed into the popular culture. Poe’s memorable images and quotes became an integral part of the world’s cultural heritage, giving inspiration to the horror movie script writers and novelists. As a result, many fans of the horror genre don’t even rate Poe’s contribution at its true value, taking his efforts for granted. For nearly two centuries so far, Poe has been providing realistic images of morbidity, fear and the horror of life to everyone who is interested in the genre or makes parallels between fiction and certain moments in life. The biography of Edgar Allan Poe is full of mystery which can be explained by his own passion for exaggeration and fantasies, which confused biographers who were trying to learn about his life from his works or his own words. However, most biographers agree that Poe hardly knew his parents and when biographers claim that he was a spoiled child, they mean the family who adopted Edgar. Edgar was born in a family of young actors. His father was an alcohol addict, whose addiction went so far that he even was drunk on the stage. Once he left his wife and kids and nobody saw him ever again. Edgar’s mother fell ill and died when Poe was only a child. That’s how Edgar was adopted by the Allens, the family of successful...
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...readers, the name of Edgar Allan Poe has become a byword for horror and fear. Moreover, the images and motifs created by the novelist had an immense influence on the following generations and works of other authors, so that they even became immersed into the popular culture. Poe’s memorable images and quotes became an integral part of the world’s cultural heritage, giving inspiration to the horror movie script writers and novelists. As a result, many fans of the horror genre don’t even rate Poe’s contribution at its true value, taking his efforts for granted. For nearly two centuries so far, Poe has been providing realistic images of morbidity, fear and the horror of life to everyone who is interested in the genre or makes parallels between fiction and certain moments in life. The biography of Edgar Allan Poe is full of mystery which can be explained by his own passion for exaggeration and fantasies, which confused biographers who were trying to learn about his life from his works or his own words. However, most biographers agree that Poe hardly knew his parents and when biographers claim that he was a spoiled child, they mean the family who adopted Edgar. Edgar was born in a family of young actors. His father was an alcohol addict, whose addiction went so far that he even was drunk on the stage. Once he left his wife and kids and nobody saw him ever again. Edgar’s mother fell ill and died when Poe was only a child. That’s how Edgar was adopted by the Allens, the family of successful...
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...The Raven—by Edgar Allen Poe—is widely considered to be one of the greatest poems of all time. It features striking imagery, deep symbolism, near perfect rhythm, and rhyming structure and, of course, a soul wrenching story of lost love. It was first published in 1845 in The American Review, under the pseudonym Quarles. Part of what separates The Raven from other poems is the technique of internal rhyming, in which a line can rhyme with itself as well as with the next line. Although the rhyming meter isn’t exactly the same throughout, in general the poem is written in trochaic octameter: eight trochaic feet per line with the emphasis placed on the first syllable, or one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable. For example, the first line of the poem is: “Once upon a midnight dreary, as I pondered weak and weary”. “Once” is stressed, while the first syllable of “upon” is not. The second syllable of “upon” is stressed, while “a” is not and so on and so forth, the sum total of which make eight pairs of stressed and unstressed syllables in that line. The greatest strengths of Poe’s masterpiece are its symbolism and allegorical capacities. In the poem, the raven for which the poem is named sits atop a bust of Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom. The raven’s perch symbolizes that it speaks from a position of wisdom, whereas the unnamed narrator argues against it. The raven speaks very little, in fact only saying one word repeated several times throughout the...
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...When you hear the name Edgar Allan Poe you automatically think of a dreary, scary story. This is not all Poe is known for. Poe has written love stories in his time such as Annabel Lee and the poem “For Annie.” Poe lived a poor lifestyle because writers did not make a great deal of money during his lifetime. Despite the fact that he was poor, Poe still managed to have a fulfilling love life. His foster family did not approved of him because he did not follow the family trade. Instead, he used women to satisfy his desire to be accepted. After Poe died a rivalry of his gave him a bad reputation which in the end only helped Poe’s work become much more famous. This enemy of Poe’s deemed him a drunk womanizer, which you will see is not true, and is only in retaliation because Poe’s harshly criticized this man’s work. Poe lived in the Romantic Era, thus inspiring the theme of many of his works. Romanticism was a movement in the late 18th century of the arts and literature. It was the theory, practice and style of romantic art, literature, and music. The Romantic Movement was based on moving away from the classical style...
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...Edgar Allan Poe 1 Edgar Allan Poe “The Life and Tragedies of Edgar Allan Poe” Jesse T. Smith Axia College of University of Phoenix Professor Lorelie Kaid October 19, 2008 E.A.P. 2 Edgar Allan Poe “The Life and Tragedies of Edgar Allan Poe” The famous writer, poet has long been criticized for his unconditional writings that made the man who he was so very famous for. Edgar Allan Poe, born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809, Died mysteriously, October 07, 1849 in Baltimore, Maryland. The famous writer would go on to inspire such authors as Ray Bradbury and Stephen King, to name a few. There has been a mystery since the death of Edgar Allan Poe, of what caused his death. There have been many writing’s trying to settle this debate. Some are as follows. • Beating (1857) The United States Magazine Vol. II (1857): 268. • Epilepsy (1875) Scribner’s Monthly Vol. 10 (1875):...
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...Edgar Allen Poe’s The Black Cat, much like many of his other stories, is a tale of inexplicable violence and perverseness, and yet it is an amazing insight into the mind’s ability to observe itself and even give itself away, as evidenced in end of the tale of the narrator. Indeed, even the narrator himself is aware of this fact that he is going insane somehow, and even with this knowledge and the knowledge that he continues to proceed in his insanity it’s not enough to stop his descent. The narrator takes time and details each aspect of his madness, in a sense observing his actions from a detached perspective, even though the story is written in the first person, like a psychiatrist. There is however a tinge of awareness and perhaps some sense of guilt in how the narrator conveys the story. Much of his actions make no sense and seem to have no logical intent, and perhaps that is what Poe tries to convey when the narrator describes and his actions in the word, “PERVERSENESS.” One interesting note is that the narrator defends himself in the very beginning with “Yet, mad am I not—” and yet he begins to logically process his reactions with, “have terrified — have tortured — have destroyed me.” Thus, in the very act of saying he isn’t mad, and then by logically outlining his guilt, he shows his own descent into madness and his objectivity throughout the process, questioning whether the narrator feels guilty at all or not. After The Black Cat begins with the narrator’s description...
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...What do Alexander the Great, Aristotle, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Anne Lopez, Dan O’Brien, Dave Thomas, Edgar Allen Poe, Eleanor Roosevelt, Faith Hill, Halle Berry, Jesse Jackson, Jesus, John Lennon, Malcolm X, Melissa Gilbert, Nancy Reagan, Nat King Cole, Nelson Mandela, President William Clinton, Priscilla Presley, Ray Liotta, Richard Burton, Sarah McLachian, and Tim McGraw have in common? They were all adopted. The United States leads the world in the number of adoptions each year. “Between the years 2000 and 2001 one hundred twenty-seven thousands children were placed in adoptive homes through out the world”. (NAIC 1) With a number to impressively high, one might think the adoption process was fool proof. That is not the case. The lack of values in the adoption process must me recognized and fixed before another child is affected. Infertility is the leading reason for couples to look into adoption. (Annual Review of Sociology 4) When reviewing data from the 1995 National survey of Family Growth “(N=10, 019 women between the ages of 18 and 44) (4) found that fifteen percent of couples who have fertility problems are twelve percent more likely to look into adoption as a way to have a family of their own. (4) In a survey done of two thousand five hundred eighty seven adoptive parents stated that sixty nine percent adopted because of fertility problems and another twenty seven percent adopted because of religious and/or humanitarian reasons. (4) Of all the families throughout...
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...“constrained his creativity” yet during his time there he still pushed boundaries and won British designer of the year in 1996, 1997 and 2001. In 2000, Gucci bought a 51% stake in McQueen’s private company, providing capital for expansion. He was awarded International Designer of the year by Council of Fashion Designers of America and “A Most Excellent Commander of the British Empire” by the Queen of England as well as British Designer of the Year in 2003. Alexander McQueen is the rule breaking rebel whom landmarked fashion as a medium for messages hiding in the threads of his masterpieces. “I don’t want to do cocktail parties. I’d rather have people watch my show and go home and throw up.”- his investment in reactive praise in audiences finding the internal message behind his sometimes strange yet gorgeous clothing collections is what sets him apart from mundane and mass produced normalcy of...
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...Addiction: A Disease of Choice? Annisa W. Sandage COM/156 University Composition and Communication II April 5, 2015 Instructor Kara Polhemus Addiction: A Disease of Choice? “Sometimes I am terrified of my heart; of its constant hunger for whatever it is it wants. The way it stops and starts” (Edgar Allen Poe). Is addiction a disease, or the life changing result of personal choices made by an individual in the efforts to reach a sense of self-efficacy? The battle against drug abuse has been a widespread problem in the United States for decades and continues to threaten its very existence. Research reveals that adolescents and teenagers are the largest majority among active drug users (CDC, 2014). Challenges in overcoming addiction lies in finding alternate things to do in order to occupy oneself that does not involve the use of drugs (Goldstein, 2001). The vast array of substance abuse treatment programs available has had no significant effect on the number of users that actually need treatment (Nationwide Trends, 2014). However, additional research suggests that once physically and/or mentally addicted relapse is inevitable and in most cases expected (Witkiewitz, 2007). Despite the numerous treatment programs available, addiction continues to dominate, having a negative societal impact claiming the lives of many of its victims every day (Reinberg, 2011). Addiction is prevalent everywhere, from the tabloids of celebrities, to television, to a close friend, or maybe even...
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... everyone in the universe can benefit from art and I truly believe that everyone should. Sometimes people are scared or afraid of art. Not enjoying it, just doing it themselves. We all enjoy art on a daily basis. Anything that’s been created is art! Any meal, any movie, any music. It’s all art! I understand why some people are scared, I must admit, there was a point in my life where I was terrified of art. Whatever I made would reflect what was inside and I didn’t want to see that. I was in a dark, depressed, terrible place. So art scared me. It scared me terribly. I also always told myself that I wasn’t talented enough. My art would always come out awful, that’s what I thought. Nobody ever told me that my art was inadequate or ugly. In fact, people complimented me and I never believed them. I was the one telling myself that my art wasn’t good enough, I was the one telling myself that everything and anything I did was lousy, because that’s how I felt; lousy. I’m still struggling with my self-critique- on everything, however, I’ve opened up to art a a fair amount it’s been absolutely wonderful. Once I realized that I was the only one telling myself negative things, it helped a fair amount. Even if people have negative things to say, your art is for you first. Even if you just draw stick figure. Use art as a tool, not to show off. *I am making generalized statements for ease of reading, this does not mean it is true of everyone. What I’ve learned is that art is an amazing outlet...
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...Emma Breitenstein Miss Raub 9 Honors English 16 May 2014 The Utter Infatuation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet Over time, writing has become exceedingly prominent, and throughout generations it has tremendously improved, leaving behind some of the best literature pieces in history. Since writing began, many great authors, playwrights, and poets have emerged, contributing to the literary society and producing countless works of literature, some that are still read today. A few notable composers that left behind numerous classics include Charles Dickens, Edgar Allen Poe, and William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare is considered to be the greatest playwright of all time due to his many great plays and his vast contribution to the English language. Some of his works include Hamlet, Othello, and the infamous Romeo and Juliet. Wrote in 1597, the tragic comedy tells the story of young Romeo and Juliet, who find themselves “in love at first sight”. Unfortunately for them, their love story goes awry when they learn their parents are mortal conflict between their parents, which ultimately caused their demise. Woven throughout the plot, many examples become present that show that the star-crossed lovers are not in love. It becomes clear Romeo and Juliet are merely infatuated with each other. The ill-fated couple focus only on each other’s physical appearances and are severely impulsive throughout the tragic story. “The play then impresses upon us the intensity of youthful love, at...
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...Red Dragon by Thomas Harris: A Look Inside The Serial Killer’s Mind Red Dragon by Thomas Harris is a dark piece of psychological fiction that was published in 1981. The novel is the first in a trilogy featuring the infamous character Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist and psychopathic serial killer. However, Lecter is not a main character in this novel. Rather, the antagonist and killer is Francis Dolarhyde, whom the police jokingly refer to as the Tooth Fairy because of the bite marks he leaves on female victims. Harris does a masterful job of creating background on the killer that delves into the makings of a serial killer. Thomas Harris gives the reader an understanding of Dolarhyde’s mindset when committing his horrific crimes by detailing the abuses the killer suffered as a child (Sexton). Harris takes the reader from the infant born with a cleft palate so disfiguring he was left to die through the cruelty of a childhood that included abandonment, a mean and mentally unstable grandmother, and taunts from his stepsiblings. In doing so, the author provides significance to some of the killer’s actions (Cowley). This research paper will examine the underlying psychopathology of serial killers that often stems from abuse in childhood, turning the human into the monster. Red Dragon begins with the FBI and the police on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whom police have nicknamed the Tooth Fairy because of bite marks left on victims. The public is duly alarmed as the...
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...This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. Dreaming, Vol. 1, No.4, 1991 The Effects of Dream Length on the Relationship Between Primary Process in Dreams and Creativity Glenn Livingston l and Ross Levin l ,2 The effects of dream length on the relationship between primaty process in dreams and a measure of creativity unconfounded by IQ was investigated in a sample of 93 graduate students using the Auld, Goldenberg, & Weiss (1968) Scale of Primary Process Thought (SPPT) and a modified Wallach-Kogan (1965) creativity batte/yo Consistent with previous research, total and mean primary process were found to correlate significantly with creativity (r = .28, P < .01 and r = .23, P < .05, respectively). Both significant relationships disappeared, however, once the effects of dream length were partialled out, confirming Wood, Sebba, & Domino's (1989-90) contention that this relationship may be artifactual. It is suggested that dream length as an individual difference in and of itself may thus be a more fruitful variable to examine in future research investigating the relationship between creativity and dreams. KEY WORDS: dreaming; dream length; primary process; creativity. The contention that creativity and dreaming may reflect similar psychological processes has long been maintained by...
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...the readers about the influence of historical and socio-cultural events upon the production of literature. Although the scope of the course is quite expansive, the readers shall focus on early 14th to 19th century Romantic Movement. Histories of literature written by some British literary historians will be consulted to form some socio-cultural and political cross connections. In its broader spectrum, the course covers a reference to the multiple factors from economic theories to religious, philosophical and metaphysical debates that overlap in these literary works of diverse nature and time periods under multiple contexts. The reading of literature in this way i.e. within the sociocultural context will help the readers become aware of the fact that literary works are basically a referential product of the practice that goes back to continuous interdisciplinary interaction. Contents: • Medieval Period • Renaissance and Reformation • Elizabethan Period • Milton, the Metaphysical, and the Cavalier Poets • The Age of Reason and Neo-Classicism • Restoration Drama • Augustan Satire • The Rise of the Novel • Romanticism Recommended Readings: 1. Long, William J.: English Literature: Its History and Significance for the life of English speaking world, enlarged edition, 2006. 2. Evans, Ifor. A Short History of English Literature. London: Penguin, 1976 3. Ford,...
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...Beginning theory An introduction to literary and cultural theory Second edition Peter Barry © Peter Barry 1995, 2002 ISBN: 0719062683 Contents Acknowledgements - page x Preface to the second edition - xii Introduction - 1 About this book - 1 Approaching theory - 6 Slop and think: reviewing your study of literature to date - 8 My own 'stock-taking' - 9 1 Theory before 'theory' - liberal humanism - 11 The history of English studies - 11 Stop and think - 11 Ten tenets of liberal humanism - 16 Literary theorising from Aristotle to Leavis some key moments - 21 Liberal humanism in practice - 31 The transition to 'theory' - 32 Some recurrent ideas in critical theory - 34 Selected reading - 36 2 Structuralism - 39 Structuralist chickens and liberal humanist eggs Signs of the fathers - Saussure - 41 Stop and think - 45 The scope of structuralism - 46 What structuralist critics do - 49 Structuralist criticism: examples - 50 Stop and think - 53 Stop and think - 55 39 Stop and think - 57 Selected reading - 60 3 Post-structuralism and deconstruction - 61 Some theoretical differences between structuralism and post-structuralism - 61 Post-structuralism - life on a decentred planet - 65 Stop and think - 68 Structuralism and post-structuralism - some practical differences - 70 What post-structuralist critics do - 73 Deconstruction: an example - 73 Selected reading - 79 4 Postmodernism - 81 What is postmodernism? What was modernism? -...
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