Edgar Allan Poe Essay Example for Free

Edgar Allan Poe Essay A famous author who initiated the start of detective stories and could spook his readers out with his tales of horror was born in January 19,1809. He was a wonderful short story writer and a poet. One of his masterpieces that he is well known for is known as â€Å"The Raven.† I’m sure by now you’ve guessed that I’m speaking of the â€Å"Father of the Detective stories† known as Edgar Allan Poe. Poe’s work reflected his own bitter and mysterious life. In most of his writing there is a blur between what is real and what if fiction because many of his narrators are on some sort of drugs. Edgar was a romantic writer, and his style was gothic. Edgar Allan Poe was a romantic in his writing. He was a part of the American renaissance movement and it is apparent he along with many other American writers rejected the British form of writing. He seemed to embrace that writing should express emotions. It shouldn’t just follow a certain rubric of rules but effuse from the heart. The tell-tale signs of a romantic writer are strong idealism and rejection of classicism. These characteristics are vividly found in his work known as â€Å"Ligeia†. In this story the narrator is an opium addict who marries a woman named Ligeia. He finds her to be very intriguing. He sees her as a beautiful woman with a mysterious personality. Unfortunately, she dies and he ends up marrying a stereotypical woman named Rowena. She is the complete opposite of Ligea in that she is exactly the way all the women of his era are supposed to be like. At the end of the story this woman also dies but then Ligea returns to the author through Rowena’s dead body. The romantic writer uses many examples to illustrate his preference for Romanticism over British literature and Classicism. The preference of the author for his first wife is an example of strong idealism and rejection of classicism. For instance, the writer describes his wife as an extraordinary being†¦almost inhuman: â€Å"She came and departed as a shadow.† Then he goes on to talk about her eyes and mentions that they are much bigger than normal eyes should be. He has a soft spot for her unique features and admires her intelligence. It is because she is different from the norm of women, he finds her attractive. She is a symbol of rebellion to the rules of classicism and her characteristics paint the art of romanticism. He then contrasts her â€Å"Singular yet placid cast of beauty† with the â€Å"fair-haired† and â€Å"blue-eyed† classical beauty of Rowena. It is apparent he prefers his first wife over the latter one because he repeatedly compares the two but compliments the first one. Poe then goes on to demonstrate strong idealism in his work. Idealism was basically a term used to define the optimistic nature of American writers in the good nature of mankind. In this story the fact that the narrator’s first wife comes back to life through the body of his second wife is a symbol of optimism. The author had described his wife as a woman who had wisdom of divine matters. He believed in her wisdom so much that he was sure she had used it to resurrect herself. It is also useful to know that the author was an opium addict. His point of view may have been distorted with hallucinations but the opium usage itself is an example of strong idealism. It is through this usage he is able to find his favorite wife come back to life simply because he willed for her to return to him. Her return could even be literal after she claims that, â€Å"Man doth not yield him to the angels, nor unto death utterly, save only through the weakness of his feeble will† (Lombardi). So maybe she was really there and if she was then this is a fine example of idealism. Considering, idealism is the hope of having a very unlikely event occur because of someone’s optimism. One more example of idealism in Ligeia is no significance of time or space. The American writers wanted to be very distinct from the old literature and wanted to cut off from them. As a result, they made time and space irrelevant to their work as a rebellion to rules. This explains why readers are never told how or when the author met his first wife or at what time she was reincarnated. For example, Poe says â€Å"I cannot, for my soul, remember how, when, or even precisely where, I first became acquainted with the lady Ligeia. (Deter) In addition, the author is so caught up the description of Ligeia he doesn’t remember the beginning of his relationship with her or what the ending to her is. She seems to consume him to the point that time and space don’t matter to him. Does she even have an ending? Considering she comes back to life as if manipulating time is one of her skills. All of these details just add to how much of a romantic writer Edgar Allan Poe really is. Poe used a very gothic style of writing. His work was usually dramatic, suspenseful and melodic. â€Å"The Raven† is a perfect example of these writing techniques. For instance, in â€Å"The Raven† the setting of the story is in his apartment in a lonely December night. The narrator is missing his lover, Lenore, who died. He is trying to distract himself by delving into the realms of his books but is sadly failing in all his attempts. Then a Raven appears at his window and knows of one word, â€Å"Nevermore.† He asks the Raven if he would see his lover again, but it replies â€Å"Nevermore.† The Raven angers the author and he tells it to leave to which the Raven gives the same answer, â€Å"Nevermore†. This poem is very meaningful and pretty much defines the themes and styles that Edgar loved to promote in his work. One thing to be noted when reading this poem aloud is that repeating Nevermore aloud after each stanza is a purposeful tactic. Edgar’s melodic instincts shine through this technique. He does this to emphasize the unity of effect and so that each stanza reflects the meaning of the poem as a whole. In addition, the â€Å"O†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s in â€Å"Lenore† and â€Å"Nevermore† are too emphasized so that the unity of effect occurs once more. Moreover, this woman has left him and she is no more so the two words are parallels to the emotions of the author at the moment. They signify his loneliness. Edgar’s poetry is always well thought-out and he is always on a mission to have relatable but dramatic themes that will suck his readers in. In this poem he combines the theme of beauty with death. The beauty is represented by the memory of his beloved lover but who has met the ugly reality of death. He asks the Raven whether he will meet her in heaven but is hit by the cruel answer â€Å"Nevermore†. This blatantly ugly reality is what makes his poem have an even more gothic and depressing touch.

Sex and Sexuality in Dracula Essay -- European Literature Bram Stoker

Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, published in 1897, explores various sexual erotic possibilities in the vampire's embrace, as discussed by Leonard Wolf. The novel confronts Victorian fears of homosexuality; that were current at the time due to the trial of playwright Oscar Wilde. The vampire's embrace could also be interpreted as an illustration of Victorian fears of the changing role of women. Therefore it is important to consider: the historical context of the novel; the Victorian notion of the `New Woman' specifically the character of Lucy Westenra; the inversion of gender roles; notions of sexuality; and the emasculation of men, by lessening their power over women; in the novel Dracula. In doing this I will be able to explore the effects of the vampire's embrace in depth, and achieve a wider understanding of the variety of erotic undercurrents Stoker incorporated into the novel. Stoker was born in Ireland in 1847, and later he graduated from Trinity College in 1867, and joined the civil service. While working, as a freelance journalist and drama critic enabled him to meet Henry Irving and entered London's literary circles, which included figures such as Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde. In the course of Irving's tours he also had the chance to travel around the world. Stoker later married Florence Balcome, who had previously had a romantic affair with Oscar Wilde. In my opinnion Stoker could not fail to be infuleced by these people while he was writing Dracula. In Dracula, Stoker relied greatly upon the conventions of Gothic fiction. Traditionally gothic elements such as dark and sublime settings, and the innocent threatened by the ineffable evil obviously feature in Dracula. Stoker modernises his novel by bringing the set... ...toker, B. (1994) Dracula, Penguin Classics, London. Weissman, J. (1988) Dracula as a Victorian Novel in Dracula: The Vampire and the Critics, UMI Press. Wolf, L. (1993) The essential Dracula, Byron Preiss. Wolf, L. (1972) A Dream of Dracula: In Search of the Living Dead, Popular Library, New York. (1997) Oscar Wilde [internet] can be found at http://www.neuroticpoets.com/wilde/ [accessed 10-11-2005] (2000) Clash of Cultures: The New Woman [internet] can be found at http://history.osu.edu/Projects/Clash/NewWoman/newwomen-page1.htm [accessed on 10-11-2005] (1997) Thor [internet] can be found at http://www.pantheon.org/articles/t/thor.html [accessed on 10-11-2005]

Brief History of the English Language

Brief History of the English Language OLD ENGLISH 5th Century —three Germanic tribes —-the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes arrived in the British Isles. The Angles were named from ENGLE, their land of origin. Their language was called ENGLISC from which the word, English is derived. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes became known as the Anglo-Saxons. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes became known as the Anglo-Saxons. Some words such as church, bishop, baptism, monk, eucharis, and presbyter came indirectly through Latin and Greek.The VIKINGS, also known as Norsemen, invaded England by the 8th century , which in turn, gave English a Norwegian and Danish influence. MIDDLE ENGLISH When William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, invaded England, he became its king. French became the language of the court, administration, and culture. It was the language used in schools. The English language became mostly the language of the uneducated classes and was considered a vulgar tongue. Similar article: Failure in English LanguageMost of the English words rooted in French are words that have something to do with power, such as crown, castle, parliament, army, mansion, gown, banquet, art, poet, romance, duke, servant, peasant, traitor, and governor. MODERN ENGLISH Modern English developed after Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press in Germany around 1450 and William Caxton established England’s first printing press at Westminster abbey in 1476.Printing also brought standardization of English. Between the 18th to 20th centuries, the English language continued to change as the British Empire moved across the world—- to the USA, Australia, New Zealand, India, Asia, and Africa. American and British variants are the INTERNATIONALLY accepted variants of the English language. Differences of AE and BE Spelling center—– centre program— programme color—— colour

The Major Differences Between the North and South Essay

1. Economic and social differences between the North and the South. With Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin in 1793, cotton became very profitable. This machine was able to reduce the time it took to separate seeds from the cotton. However, at the same time the increase in the number of plantations willing to move from other crops to cotton meant the greater need for a large amount of cheap labor, i.e. slaves. Thus, the southern economy became a one crop economy, depending on cotton and therefore on slavery. On the other hand, the northern economy was based more on industry than agriculture. In fact, the northern industries were purchasing the raw cotton and turning it into finished goods. This disparity between the two set up a†¦show more content†¦The federal government denied states this right. However, proponents such as John C. Calhoun fought vehemently for nullification. When nullification would not work and states felt that they were no longer respected, they moved towards secession. 3. The fight between Slave and Non-Slave State Proponents. As America began to expand, first with the lands gained from the Louisiana Purchase and later with the Mexican War, the question of whether new states admitted to the union would be slave or free. The Missouri Compromise passed in 1820 made a rule that prohibited slavery in states from the former Louisiana Purchase the latitude 36 degrees 30 minutes north except in Missouri. During the Mexican War, conflict started about what would happen with the new territories that the US expected to gain upon victory. David Wilmot proposed the Wilmot Proviso in 1846 which would ban slavery in the new lands. However, this was shot down to much debate. The Compromise of 1850 was created by Henry Clay and others to deal with the balance between slave and free states, northern and southern interests. 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