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The Mystery of Edgar Allan Poes Works Essay Thesis Statement: Edgar Allan Poe is considered to be one of the greatest and most brilliant American writers in history. Many people considered him the first master of the short story form, and the father of the mysterious and the modern detective stories. Outline: I. An Introduction to Poe life and works. A. Due to Poes great works, many writers were influenced by these works. II. The early life of Poe and how it affected his life. A. His parents died so Allan raised him up. B. Allan ill-treated him and this affected his life and works afterwards. C. Poes education in England enriched his knowledge. D. Poe joined the University of Virginian and the army afterwards. III. What affected the works of Poe. A. Learning a lot of language enabled Poe from knowing different nations cultures and literature. B. Poe was good at the field of Art as well. C. Poe read to famous philosophers. IV. Analysis of the stories and poems of Poe. A. Poe was a talented writer. B. He excelled in poetry and in fiction and detective stories. V. Poe excelled in the field of detective stories, as he was the inventor of the short detective story. A. Many famous writers based their characters on Poes stories. B. The Murders in The Rue Morgue an example to show the excellence of Poe in the filed of Short story. C. Another detective story: The Purloined Letter. VI. The life of this great writer ended in New York after amusing the readers by his great works. ECLT 113 Mohamed Abdel Raouf Paper #2: Individual research projects 900-00-1018 The Mystery of Edgar Allan Poes Works Edgar Allan Poe is considered to be one of the greatest and most brilliant American writers in history. Many people considered him the father of the mysterious modern detective story, and the master of the short story form. The Works of this famous writer were remarkable to their flawless literary construction and for their haunting themes (The Columbia Encyclopedia). Jeffrey Meyers states that this great writer was considered to be the first American Writer whose personal reputation influenced the reception of his work. He was also the only nineteenth century American writer whose poems and novels were valued more highly in Europe than in his homeland. However, In spite of all his great works, it was argued that the creator of these hallucinating murders and that horror atmosphere must himself be evil, to have so evil imagination (258). Edgar Allan Poes life is considered to be a story of misery and oddness. Edgar Allan Poe, the greatest writer that was ever born in the American history, was born in Boston on January 19, 1809. His parents whom were touring actors, both died in Poes early childhood, and the little boy Edgar Allan Poe was raised by a rich man whom was called John Allan (Funk Wagnalls Encyclopedia). Edgar had a brother whom was rover and a sister that have seemed to be mentally retarded (Rieselbach 1), that is probably the reason why it was said afterwards that all the horrifying works of Poe were a result of an unstable mind. John Allan was a successful businessman from Richmond, whom was working in the merchandise. Nevertheless, he ill-treated Edgar and confused the poor Edgar by alternately spoiling and scolding him. Edgar was taken to England to attend private schools there. Edgar was affected by the travels that the Allans made in England. Many Poes weird stories reflect his own experience like Why the Little Frenchman took place in towns where he had lived and A Tale of The Ragged Mountains took place in Charlottesville (Meyers 8+). Furthermore, his poems reflected his miserable life with the Allans and his rift with them (Poe and Richmond). This proves that Poe have been taking his ideas and thoughts for his novels and poems from his own miserable life, that may be the cause of his invention of those horrible and horrifying prospects in his short stories and novels. After staying in England more than thirteen years, Edgar was more sophisticated and cosmopolitan, and far better educated than his mates in Richmond (Meyers 14). The education of Edgar in England had a great effect on him as this education widened his horizon of writing, as he read in his childhood many books and novels to great writers. Poe returned to the United States and entered the University of Virginia. Allan gave him too little money to pay for his classes (Rieselbach 1). Nevertheless, he showed remarkable scholastic ability in classical and romance languages but was forced to leave the university after only eight months because he made a fight with Allan over his gambling debts (The Columbia Encyclopedia). After leaving the University of Virginia, he worked as a clerk for a while at a warehouse. Afterwards he joined the army, because the army would alleviate his poverty, offer security and provide the basic necessities of the life (Meyer 32). What has the great affection in his lifetime is that he learned foreign languages as Latin, French, German, Spanish and Italian (Campbell 6+). He studied Latin when he was nine years old. He excelled in reading and writing Latin sharply. It is the same with his knowledge of French. He used to read works in French in the university of Virginia. Also his knowledge of German, Spanish and Italian made him talented in understanding the works of many of these countries writers, which made him talented in reading and writing stories and poems (Campbell 7+). Moreover, he was good at the field of fine arts as well. Poe knew music, painting, sculpture, theatre and dancing. He had been taking lessons in dancing and he sang well (Campbell 11). He was fond of the piano and of musical instruments in general. Poe early developed an interest in philosophy. Because he knew the German language, he was attracted to the philosophical thinking of the German philosophers. He knew about Kant, Hegel and Fichte (Campbell 12+). He drew ideas for his stories and poems from all the knowledge he had from the German philosophy. He also read to English philosophers as Bentham and Mill (Campbell 13). The works of Poe shows that Poe was a talented writer and a gifted poet. As an example to his great success is that his first volume of poetry Tamerlane and Other Poems, which he have written when he was eighteen years old, is such a rare book now that a single copy worth two hundred thousand dollars (Wilson 1). Daniel Hoffman states that the writings of Poe demonstrates Poes critical mind, his analysis of the structure and texture of poetry, the need for all details of diction and form to contribute to single effect (1). Poe was considered to have influence on the literature of twenty cultures and on fifteen major writers around the world (Hoffman 1). Poes influence on European and American art has been extraordinarily wide. Poe had a short life and a few unfinished works; however, he possessed great originality and imagination. His poems influenced the French symbolists and English writers (Meyers 280). Thus, he is considered to be one of the greatest writers in the whole literatur e history. Poe wrote in many fields and in many ways and styles. He excelled at poetry and wrote great poems as The Raven. In addition to poetry, Edgar Allan Poe wrote many kinds of stories. However, Poe excelled at writing detective stories. His superiority at detective stories may be for the reason that he was fond of puzzles and mental games, and both his fiction and nonfiction often included such mental exercises (Unrue 3). He published tales of detection, the first being The Murders in The Rue Morgue and he introduced his famous character Auguste Dupin. These kinds of stories incorporate many of the themes and techniques Poe was developing all over his life (Unrue 3). This famous American writer spent a miserable living while inventing the modern detective story and science fiction as well. He perfected the horror tale and wrote unforgettable stories, as his works continues to be a significant presence in world literature. Poe is considered the father of the modern detective story, as he was the first writer to put pen to paper and write his detective stories, and it is possibly that Poe was the inventor of the detective stories as Umberto Eco said that Edgar Allan Poe is considered by most detective fiction historians to be the founding father of the detective story, and his Murders in The Rue Morgue the worlds first detective story (179). His mind brought to reality the greatest stories in detection as The Murders in The Rue Morgue, The Purloined Letter, The Gold Bug and The Mystery of Marie Roget (Funk Wagnalls Encyclopedia). Not only did he write stories, but also he influenced by his stories the most brilliant writers in the field of detective story. Poe influence on Conan Doyle, the great writer that invented the character of Sherlock Holmes, cannot be disregarded. However, its obvious that Conan Doyle used the stories of Edgar Allan Poe as a guide in the begging of his writing because the character Sherlock Holmes have some similarities from Dupin, the character of Edgar Allan Poe. Moreover, Poe influenced Swinburne, the English poet, Dostoyevsky, the Russian novelist, and the French symbolists (The Columbia Encyclopedia). Many of Poes tales have been distinguished by the authors unique bizarre inventiveness in addition to his superb plot construction (Funk Wagnalls Encyclopedia). The Murders in The Rue Morgue is an excellent example of the detective story, which Poe had written. Stuart and Susan Levine stated in their book The Short Fiction of Edgar Allan Poe that in this tale, Dupin, Poes hero in his detective stories, is superior to the perfect of Police in that he logical. Dupin actually uses what looks like artistic inspiration to solve the problems posed by crime and conspiracy. If the private hideout of Dupin and the narrator seems to be familiar, it is because subsequent writers have made it so. The idea of the heros hidden residence has passed into popular culture. Poe invented a great deal of the claptrap and many of the conventions of the modern detective stories. As Conan Doyle said: Sherlock Holmes owed to much to Dupin, as did the detective heroes of other writers(153). In this story, Dupin and the narrator first learn from an evening newspaper that Madame LEspanaye and her daughter Camille were murdered. Newspaper accounts the next day carry depositions by links of the victims and the people in the vicinity where the crime took place; these conflicting accounts and the absence of evidence lead the narrator and the police to consider the crime insolvable. Dupin, however, places an advertisement in the newspaper after having inspected the house where the woman and her daughter have been murdered. When a sailor in search of a missing orangutan, which has killed the victims, responds to the newspaper advertisement, Dupin finds the solution to this murder, and after wards he explained the clues that led him to this solution. Dupins analytic method of solving the crime has made the tale a classic in the detective mystery genre. As the first detection in fiction, Dupin was the sample that Conan Doyles based on it his famous detective Sherlock Holmes (The Murders In The Rue Morgue 1). Another Example of Poes detective story is The Purloined Letter. This tale is also one of Poes vengeance stories; Dupin has scores personal and political to settle. The tone of the closing paragraphs of the tale is bitter and the final allusion literally bloodthirsty (Stuart and Suzan Levine 154). As he did in the other tales of Poe: The Mystery of Marie Roget and The Murders in The Rue Morgue, Dupin beat the police in solving these seemingly insoluble crimes. However, unlike the other tales, which involve murders of women, The Purloined Letter presents only petty thievery and trickery of the crime. The Prefect of the Parisian Police actually knows the thief, but the letter had to be found in order to protect the honor of a lady being blackmailed. The police department searches for the letter, but it appears that no one could found it. So the Prefect asks Dupin for help. And as usual, Dupin find the clue to this thievery and get the letter. Afterwards Dupin explains what has been the reason that led him to that solution (The Purloined Letter 1). These evidence and examples shows that Edgar Allan Poe was the inventor of the detective short story and his main character, Dupin, was the prototype that all the subsequently writers used him and invented their characters upon as Sherlock Holmes. And this success was a product of his hard work and also because of his talents. Edgar Allan died on Sunday, October 7, 1849 at the age of fourty. Poes spent his last days in a New York hospital, after taking an alcoholic overdose, became unconscious, suffered delirium tremens, fell into a coma and died four days later. Poes life was not very long, however during this short lifetime, he enriched the American Culture and all the world culture with many stories and poems that are still discussed and criticized by people all around the world. Poe (Meyers 255). Works Cited Campbell, Killis. The Mind of Poe and Other Studies. Cambridge, MA:Harvard University Press, 1933. This book introduces to the reader seven papers that were published and talking about Poe. These papers are: Contemporary Opinion of Pe, The Poe-Griswold Controversy, The Poe Canaon, The Backgrounds of Poe, Self-Revelation in Poes Poems and Tales, The Origins of Poe and The Mind of Poe. Eco, Umberto, and Thomas A. Sebeok, eds. The Sign of Three. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1983. This book discusses the detective stories and that Dupin (Edgar Allan Poes detective character), Sherlock Holmes and Peirce were the greatest character invented by writers in the whole history. The book also discusses how Conan Doyle, before writing Holmes stories, used the stories of Edgar Allan Poe as a guide to him and he was very impressed by Dupin. Edgar Allan Poe Museum. Nov. 2000. Clever Net. 1 May 2001. http://www.poemuseum.org The Museum of Edgar Allan Poe on the Internet. It contains all the works of Edgar Allan Poe and his biographical information. Hoffman, Danile. Poe As Critic, Poe Abroad. Sewanee Review. 108.2 (2000) : 11 pars. 2 May 2001. Academic Search Elite An article that includes the review of books of Edgar Allan Poe and his literary theory and criticisms. It also includes Poes influence on the non American writers as Conan Doyle and H.G. Wells. Meyers, Jeffrey. Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy. New York. Charles Scribners Sons., 1992. The complete biographical information about Poe. This book includes extendedly the life of Poe and the circumstances of his life and death. Poe, Edgar Allan. Funk Wagnalls Encyclopedia. Versaware. 2 May 2001 http://www.funkandwagnalls.com An article of the biography of Poe. Poe, Edagr Allan. The Columbia Encyclopedia. Six Edition. 2001. Columbia University Press. 2 May 2001. http://www.bartlebay.com Some biographical information about Edgar Allan Poe. Rieselbach, Erik. Poe, Edagr Allan Bibliography. American Spectator. 26.3 (1993) : 58 pars. 2 May 2001. Academic Search Elite An article that discuss the life of Poe and what reasons lead him to write his novels and poems. The article also include the evidence of the influence of Poe on other writers. Sturat, and Susan Levine. The Short Fiction of Edgar Allan Poe. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company Inc., 1976. The book introduces the fiction and detective stories that Edgar Allan Poe wrote in his life. It also gives short analysis and criticism to those stories and the circumstances of this tale. The Murders In The Rue Morgue. Academic Search Elite. Magill Book Reviews. 5 May 2001 Academic Search Elite The complete analysis of the story The Murders in the Rue Morgue that wrote by Edgar as an example of short detective story. The Purloined Letter. Academic Search Elite. Magill Book Reviews. 5 May 2001 Academic Search Elite The complete analysis of The Purloined Letter which was written by Poe as another good example for the short detective stories wrote by Poe. Unrue, Darlene Harbour. Edgar Allan Poe: The Romantic as Classicist. International Jouranl of The Classical Tradition. 1.4 (1995) : 112 pars. 2 May 2001. Academic Search Elite This article reveals that Edgar Allan Poe measured romantic stance determinedly against the objectivity and rationality of the classical. Distinction on the use of romantic materials and themes between Poe and gothic writers. Wilson, James Southall. A Summary of Facts Known about Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe Museum. 5 May 2001. http://www.poemuseum.org