This
portion of this essay is the rough draft introduction. The high-lighted
blue is the working thesis and the high lighted orange is an example of
the informal tone used by the author. This type of informal tone is not
usually acceptable as scholarly writing.
Understanding Poe Through Archetypes
Understanding Poe Through Archetypes
Why
are we afraid of “things that go bump in the night?” How come we often find
ourselves cringing at the thought of being in a dark room with that eerie
feeling that a terrifying creature is lurking merely inches away? Moving beyond
fear, why is it that a sunny day seems to add cheer to any situation, or that
society idolizes the hero? Each of these questions are examples of archetypes,
and psychologists and literary scholars believe that the human mind is genetically
predisposed to different archetypes.
One of the most notable authors to use an abundance of archetypes in his work is Edgar Allan Poe. He has been dubbed the go-to-guy for creepy, hair raising stories; stories that without fail lead the reader to an uncomfortable place in their mind that they weren’t sure existed before reading Poe. So why is it that most readers, after finishing a Poe story, set the book aside and try to shrug off undesired feelings, uttering only small whispers of, “that guy is weird,” or “wow, he had issues?” People do this because they do not understand Poe’s technique. This type of audience is unaware of the archetypes Poe uses to develop his stories while drawing them in by tapping into the psyche of the reader. By identifying archetypes from Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado and explaining their purpose and connection to the human condition, readers will have a new knowledge of how to approach Poe’s work, making him more understood to his audience.
One of the most notable authors to use an abundance of archetypes in his work is Edgar Allan Poe. He has been dubbed the go-to-guy for creepy, hair raising stories; stories that without fail lead the reader to an uncomfortable place in their mind that they weren’t sure existed before reading Poe. So why is it that most readers, after finishing a Poe story, set the book aside and try to shrug off undesired feelings, uttering only small whispers of, “that guy is weird,” or “wow, he had issues?” People do this because they do not understand Poe’s technique. This type of audience is unaware of the archetypes Poe uses to develop his stories while drawing them in by tapping into the psyche of the reader. By identifying archetypes from Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado and explaining their purpose and connection to the human condition, readers will have a new knowledge of how to approach Poe’s work, making him more understood to his audience.
The
highlighted yellow below demonstrates how the author went beyond an
acceptable amount of background information on Poe. When writing a
research paper that is not a memoir, it is important to keep the
biographical information to only a couple of sentences.
Before delving into the story of discussion, knowing Poe’s background is
important to his readers because his life was filled with tragedy, a common
theme in most of his works. In James Hutchisson’s book Poe, he explains
that Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809 to the parents
of Elizabeth and David Poe. After being abandoned by his father soon after his
birth, Poe clung tightly to his mother. But Elizabeth died two years later, and
how she died is unclear (7). Like Poe’s death, how Elizabeth died remains a
mystery. Hutchisson details Poe’s life further stating that after his mother’s
death, Poe, only two years old, and his siblings were split among friend and
relatives. Poe is sent to live with his mother’s close friends, John and
Frances Allan (7). According to Hutchisson Poe was thought of as a happy child
and his school teacher commented on his cheerful attitude, sending a report of
his outgoing demeanour home to his fosters parents (10). In Poe’s academic
years, he learned to read Latin and Greek and excelled academically (Hutchisson
10).
Poe lost both of his birth-parents before his second birthday and both of his foster parents before he was twenty-five (Hutchisson, 6). The sense of loss cannot be ignored when you read Poe’s work. This tells us how profoundly Poe was impacted by loss. Interestingly enough, Poe’s tragic childhood was not the only reason for his focus on death. According to Hutchisson, “graveyard poetry” was the most popular style of poetry in the 1800s (29). This style was spawned due to the elaborate processes involved with death, “death diaries, ...the reading of wills” (29). Since this style of writing was the “in factor” of Poe’s time, it is reasonable to assume that he studied the technique closely as it related largely to his real life experiences.
Kevin J. Hayes writes about Poe’s marriage to Virginia Clemm in 1837 and elaborates on Poe’s move to Philadelphia where he publishes Ligeia (xvii). Benjamin Fisher explains that Poe was able to get an editorial job at Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine, where The Fall of the House of Usher and William Wilson are published (6). Later that year Tales of the Grotesques and Arabesque was published and is considered by Vincent Buranelli to be “some of Poe’s finest work” (Fisher, 6). Poe’s work was beginning to have merit, and this brought a sense of relief to Poe and his family because they were fighting to keep their residence in Philadelphia (Hutchisson, 54). In 1841- 1842, Poe publishes many titles including The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Masque of the Red Death, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Oval Portrait (Hayes, xviii).
Poe lost both of his birth-parents before his second birthday and both of his foster parents before he was twenty-five (Hutchisson, 6). The sense of loss cannot be ignored when you read Poe’s work. This tells us how profoundly Poe was impacted by loss. Interestingly enough, Poe’s tragic childhood was not the only reason for his focus on death. According to Hutchisson, “graveyard poetry” was the most popular style of poetry in the 1800s (29). This style was spawned due to the elaborate processes involved with death, “death diaries, ...the reading of wills” (29). Since this style of writing was the “in factor” of Poe’s time, it is reasonable to assume that he studied the technique closely as it related largely to his real life experiences.
Kevin J. Hayes writes about Poe’s marriage to Virginia Clemm in 1837 and elaborates on Poe’s move to Philadelphia where he publishes Ligeia (xvii). Benjamin Fisher explains that Poe was able to get an editorial job at Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine, where The Fall of the House of Usher and William Wilson are published (6). Later that year Tales of the Grotesques and Arabesque was published and is considered by Vincent Buranelli to be “some of Poe’s finest work” (Fisher, 6). Poe’s work was beginning to have merit, and this brought a sense of relief to Poe and his family because they were fighting to keep their residence in Philadelphia (Hutchisson, 54). In 1841- 1842, Poe publishes many titles including The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Masque of the Red Death, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Oval Portrait (Hayes, xviii).
The next five years are
marked with tragedy, a life-long foe, and fame, a new relief and well deserved
recognition. Poe released “The Raven,” his most popular poem, and Tales
(Hutchisson, 260). In 1845, the same year “The Raven” is published, Poe is
accused of plagiarism which has no social affect on Poe’s reputation. However,
the mental affects proved to be trying for Poe, and according to Hayes, in
1846, Poe ends publication (xix). Virginia, Poe’s wife, becomes ill and on
January 30, 1847, she dies leaving Poe deeply grievous (Hayes, xix). According
to Hayes, Poe hosts many lectures during the decade before his death and was
doing so the day he was found semi-unconscious in Baltimore (xix). Poe dies on
October seventh at Washington College Hospital from “congestion of the brain”
(Hutchisson, 260). Hutchisson claims that an obituary published in the New
York Tribune is reason for the “myths” surrounding Poe’s character,
and for this reason Poe’s reputation was damaged greatly (260). However, those
false claims helped to create a legend. When we think of Edgar Allan Poe we
think of mystery and dark secrets, which fascinates readers and influences
aspiring writers. According to George McMichael and James S. Leonard in an
introduction to Edgar Allan Poe in the Concise Anthology to American
Literature, Poe influenced A. Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, William
Faulkner, T.S. Eliot, and H.P. Lovecraft and is considered as one the “first
modern literary theorist of America” and “one of the most popular authors in
the world” (489).
This entry is an example of how rough a rough draft can look. The point is to visually show how "messy" the beginning stages of writing can be. The more one understands that the first draft is rarely ever going to be good enough to submit as a final draft, the better developed the writer will become.
Below are two scans from A Short Guide to Writing About Literature
by Sylvan Barnet & William E. Cain.
The image below is a guideline for outlining your research paper. A well developed idea will need subtopic investigation. This outline allows the writer to organize ideas and visualize how they will work into the research paper.
