Edgar Allan Poe

The Premature Burial (217)

Of all the ways to die there is no easy way, but to be buried alive must be one of the worse. We can appear dead or in a sort of suspended animation. Who is sure where the line between death and life truly lies. We have no way to tell. It is easy to say someone is dead or alive, or at least that is what we are led to believe. To bring someone back to life is another feet in itself, we must examine what it does to the body and to the people who witness it. To be touched by a soul that had been lost and then revived was a daunting thing, and it scared the people who witnessed it.

A Valentine (776)

Poe loved someone once and he describes how it felt all the way to the end. He has hidden the name of the person he loved in the poem and what I have found is that the person’s name was Frances. It must have been a great love and a great feet to put their name into the poem the way he did.

To – – (778)

To a mystery person Poe asks why he thinks so often of them. He wonders what has brought these thoughts to his head. Could it have been a dream? He now stands “motionless upon the golden Threshold” looking out upon a dream, waiting for an answer.

A Dream (833)

Does a dream only happen at night? Or do we have dream states during the day? Can some of our experiences throughout the day almost seem like a dream? In this poem Poe addresses the question of his dream is really a dream because it happens during the day.

Rationale

Poe wrote many great poems and short stories that are still widely praised today. What students can learn from Poe is how to take their thoughts and dreams and put them into words to share with the world. I personally have never cared much for Poe because I thought he was dark and over praised. However, after reading new poems and short story of his I can see that he had a wide variety of writing that he did. He used his life and dreams to write. We can all do this. A good age range for this would be high school because they would be able to understand some of the language that Poe is using better than a younger student. 

Teaching Ideas

1)      Some students may find it fun to write a poem with someone’s name embed in it. To mimic what Poe did in A Valentine. They could write a poem about someone they know and then change it slightly so that each line contains a letter like Poe did.

2)      Another idea would have students write a poem about a dream or dream like experience they had. This will help them translate what they are dreaming or thinking to words to share.

3)      Something else students could do is pick a Poe poem and write their own in a similar format. This helps them learn different ways of writing poems or short stories.

4)      One final lesson idea would be to have students write short stories that convey a thought or idea off a list. The list would be created by some of poems short story titles or his poem titles.

Challenges

Students: Kids may not be interested in Poe, but we can help them get more involved by giving them options of what to read and options of what to write. Like the lesson plan is to have students write short stories but they must pick the topic by using a title from one of Poe’s works to do so. This can show them how to see things from multiple perspectives.

Parents: Some parents may believe that Poe is outdated and overused. One way we can bring them on board with them is tell the lessons that we plan on using and how it can help their children become better writers and help them also to express their feelings.

Administration: Poe is still used in the public-school system, so I think they would be willing to let certain works to be admitted, but we still must be selective because some of his works can be a bit dark and depressing.