Edgar Allan Poe Influence

Do you remember in elementary school when you read Annabel Lee or The Raven? Remember how afterwards you and your friends would run around and say “Nevermore”? Even today when you see those lines you remember they day you were first introduced to Poe. This is a reality for most people. For some reason Edgar Allan Poe never leaves us. He stays with us for years upon years not only as individuals but as a society. Edgar Allan Poe’s influence can be seen throughout pop culture as well as other famous and historical people, places, and ideas.

Edgar Allan Poe was born January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. After his father left and his mother passed away, he lived with John and Frances Allan. He would write poetry on the back of John’s business papers. Poe went to the University of Virginia where he went into debt for gambling to cover the cost of his schooling. When he was kicked out of the university he enrolled at West Point and that’s when he truly committed to writing poetry again. He earned the nickname Father of the Detective Story when he wrote the first detective story, The Murders in the Rue Morgue. In 1845, Poe became a sensation when he published The Raven. He mysteriously died on October 7, 1849 in Baltimore, Maryland (biography.com).

Poe has been one of the most influential American authors of all time. Even 165 years after his death, he is still easily recognized by many people throughout the United States. His work has influenced a myriad of different genres of media. Andrew Taylor, a writer for an online newspaper called The Guardian, wrote: “One reason why he is still so important today is that his stories, in particular, have shown an extraordinary capacity to mutate into other media” (www.theguardian.com). Most...

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...after the dark and mysterious writer. “The Edgar Allan Poe Society is a legally established non-profit organization, incorporated in the state of Maryland” (eapoe.org). It was founded in 1923 as a commemorative celebration of his birthday. Through the years Poe’s birthday has been the most celebrated thing about him other than his poetry.

Poe and his work has been in pop culture for what seems like forever. Curiosity of him and why he wrote what he wrote will come up with many different myths of his life. “Forget about the myth of Poe's life: the significance and richness of his work is such that we should be celebrating his bicentenary by rediscovering it. He holds up a mirror to ourselves, and each time we read him we find something new” (www.theguardian.com). Focus on what Poe’s work has to offer and look for him in things you wouldn’t think where he would be.