EDGAR ALLAN POE
By: Abbi Gregory and Madisen Pierce
ELAH
Mrs. Serrato
Timeline of Poe’s life
Elements of Style
Irony- Edgar Allan Poe expresses many examples of irony in his works. In “The Fall of the
House of Usher” , Roderick Usher prematurely buries his sister Madeline, telling the unnamed
narrator she has died of a serious disease. The ironic part about this, is that she was not dead and
came out of her coffin in search of revenge. In the end it was in fact Roderick Usher who was killed
by Madeline. That was only one example of irony that Edgar Allan Poe used.
Setting- Edgar Allan Poe usually uses depressing settings to describe how he feels on the
inside. The descriptive words he uses helps the reader understand the mood and tone of the story.
The setting in the story we chose was in the country, isolated by everything else, next to an eerie
lake. The lake and the house were both surrounded by mist.
Imagery- Edgar Allan Poe uses vivid imagery in his stories and poems. The setting is one
example. You imagine your there. How he describes the clouds, the lake, and the house is in a way
only true writers can perform.
Personification- In “The Fall of the House of Usher” Poe uses personification to describe the
clouds, and how they hung low in the heavens. He also says that the lake was the source of the mist
that hung over the house. These are only some examples of how he used personification.
Characters
Narrator- the narrator of the story makes the decision to go and visit his long lost friend at his house
which he calls the house of Usher. The reason he chose this was simple; he was a good man. After receiving a
letter from Usher, begging him to come, he convinced himself that visiting Usher in person was the only way to
respond. In the letter he learned that Usher had a horrible sickness that left him bed struck. Since they were
such good friends when they were boys, and he had only cheery memories of Usher he decided he would take the
chance. This is the reason the narrator went to visit his long lost friend, and decide only to be nice to him.
Usher- usher’s main decision was to bury his sister alive. He put her in a coffin and put her in an
underground chamber; his intentions were for two weeks. He stated that his reasoning were that he wanted to give
Madeline’s doctors a chance to examine her body so that maybe they could get a lead on her illness. Both
Madeline and Usher suffered from very serious conditions that affected their everyday life. His illness and loss of
sanity were two major motivations for the actions that he was responsible for.
Madeline- the thing that motivated Madeline to come out of her coffin to face her brother was simple.
She was not dead and she simply wanted revenge on her brother. After getting prematurely buried Madeline
decided that she would not let such a big deal slide. As she went to go face her brother, she fell upon him and
then the house of Usher fell upon the both of them. Logically speaking Madeline did the right thing coming out of
her coffin to face the monster that left her to die, she gathered up just enough courage to die with her dignity.
Biography
Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19,1809 in Boston. His father David Poe Jr.,
abandoned Poe and his mother when he was an infant. His mother Elizabeth Arnold Poe was an
actress. Unfortunately she got T.B. and died from the horrible disease in 1811. Poe was not ever
three. Poe was adopted by the Allan family. At the age of seventeen Poe registered at the
University of Virginia. Instead of sending him money to help him out, Mr. John Allan resisted,
because he did care for Poe. Poe then enlisted in the army under the name Edgar A. Perry. After
two years of this Poe moved in with his aunt Mrs. Maria Poe Clemm. Meanwhile Mr. Allan had moved
on to another woman and he no longer had any connections with Poe. Aside from the fact that there
was so much commotion, Poe still had time to write, and got several books published, as well as works
featured. In 1836, Poe made the decision to marry his thirteen year old cousin Virginia. They were
extremely happily married, until Virginia got T.B.. She fought the disease for many years but
eventually died in 1847. After the death of his beloved Virginia his whole life went down hill. His
mother, step mother, brother, and Virginia had all died from T.B.. This ruined him. He became
interested in many woman , some whom he married, was consistently drunk and lost his popularity as
an author. Poe’s death was a sad one. He was taken, unconscious, to a hospital on October 7, 1849,
where he regained consciousness said," God help my poor soul” and then died.