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You must make them laugh, make them weep, but above all, make them wait! Charles Dickens

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The Life of Edgar Allan Poe This is a Mr. Levoy PowerPoint Presentation

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Early Life Born in Boston Died in Baltimore 1809 1849 Lived in NYC

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Honest Abe Born one month after Eddy Poe

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Mr. & Mrs. Poe Mrs. Poe was quite successful as an actress while Mr. Poe Jr. struggled as an actor. Elizabeth Poe David Poe

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See ya later Poes father abruptly deserted his family. Little Poe was raised by his mother

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Family Death Poes mother died of Tuberculosis when he was a only three. He watched his mother die which affected him greatly.

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TB was also referred to as consumption.

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Tuberculosis What is it? - caused by a bacterial infection. - many times began as pneumonia. How does one acquire TB? - air-borne (coughing) What are symptoms of TB? - chest pain, coughing up blood, fatigue yellowing of skin & eyes, loss of weight

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Treatment of TB during Poes time -Isolation -Pumping air into chest cavity for relief -Folk remedies 1 out of 7 people died of TB during this time period!

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Famous people w/ TB Alexander Grahm BellElenor Roosevelt King Tut Frederick Chopin James Monroe

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Quite the Athlete Eddy was quite the athlete. He was not only an excellent swimmer but a prized boxer.

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Enter the Mr. Allan While Edgar was an orphan, the Allans served as Poes foster family. The Allans were extremely wealthy and insisted that Eddy have a first class education.

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Edgar Allan Poe Eddy decided to take the middle name of Allan to honor his new family. He was never formally adopted by the Allans.

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First class education Poe attended the University of Virginia, but only lasted one semester.

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One and done Poe ran up massive gambling debts after spending all of his tuition money.

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On your own!! Poe and Mr. Allan would constantly argue over $$$. When Eddy went into major debt at UV, Allan refused to help with his finances. Poe become extremely bitterand broke! Tensions mounting

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Army strong Poe had enlisted in the army under the alias name of Edgar Perry. He did not want his father to know of his whereabouts. But Eddy was soon discharged for disobedience and too many infractions such as skipping classes.

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Lost Love Poe had written many love letters to correspond with his first love, Sarah Royster while he had enlisted. Mr. Allan got a hold of these letters and Royster never received them. She married another man, which made Edgar heartbroken put him into an emotional tailspin.

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No pain, no gain John Allan died believing that Eddy had always showed a lack of gratitude to him. He did not leave Poe a single cent in his will, while he left others, including his mistresses, his fortunes.

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Broke broke broke Poe remained broke, penniless and alone. UNTIL After Allans death

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Love at first site! he relocated to live with Virginia Clemm, his first cousin. They fell in love! Poe was 27, while she was only 13 when they married.

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Self-starter Edgar Allan Poe was one of the very first American authors to use writing as a means to support himself. However, most of his short stories and poems were overlooked by publishers, and he was barely making enough to support himself.

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A Days Pay While Poes stories were often being rejected, he became an editor and critic at a literary magazine. He made lots of enemies with other writers as he offered strong opinions and sharp criticism of their works.

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Poe continued to write stories, and finally came up with one BIG hit which soon turned him into an instant celebrity and star.

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Quoth The Raven, Nevermore The Raven was published in 1844. It took Poe 10 years to complete what is his most famous piece. He barely made any earnings for his poem, having first published in a newspaper for free. He lost most copyright rights. The Raven soon appeared in school textbooks

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And many years later in Pop-Culture pop-culturepop-culture!

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Down timesagain. As soon as Poes career seemed to turn for the better, his dear Virginia Clemm became sick with Tuberculosis. She died a slow death* the following years.

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He was fired from his post as editor due to his erratic behavior and drinking tendencies as he was often in an alcoholic stupor. Poe was devastated by the death of Virginia and became severely depressed.

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Downward spiral Even though Poe had written a hit, his life was never quite the same after his love died. He was often angry, drunk, hopeless, and erratic who could blame him!!?.

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The end of a pioneer He was found outside of a tavern lying on a park bench. He was disheveled and mumbling incoherent statements. He died four days later in a nearby hospital. The diagnosis: lesions on the brain. Poes death is surrounded with much intrigue and mystery

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Election Day The day Poe was found on the bench was October 3, 1849, which happened to be voting day for a local mayoral election. The tavern near the bench happened to be a poling location for the election. Often, an unsuspecting person would be drugged and forced to cast repeated ballets under different names. This type of voter fraud was known as Cooping

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Lord, help my poor soul. The real cause of death is unknown and his death certificate has disappeared. Theories of Poes death range from political kidnapping to being affected by rabies.

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Poes lasting legacy He was the first writer to explore the dark side of human imagination, sorrow, horror, and crime. His works reflect his life experiences which happened to involve a lot of sadness over the loss of loved ones. Considered by many to have invented the American horror story, science fiction, and the detective story genre. Defined writing terms of its ability to excite the soul of the reader.