The Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe

This is a four week course of Edgar Allan Poe's life and works. 

Week 1: Intro to Edgar Allan Poe's poetry. Not all of Poe was about horror and short stories. He was also a prolific poet and literary critic. We will look at some of his poetry and study "The Raven" in particular. The instructor will read "the Raven" to the class. We will examine it through slides and discussion. The last part of class we will talk about the final project due on week 4 and it will be assigned. Assigned reading for week 2: "the Tell-Tale Heart" (the short story will be provided in classroom after class) 

Week 2: The first half of class we will talk about the beginning of Edgar Allan Poe's life in a biographic sense. The second half of class we will discuss "the Tale-Tell Heart" short story and tie it in to how Poe's life might have influenced his writing. Assigned reading for week 3: "the Cask of Amontillado." (the short story will be provided in classroom after class) 

Week 3: The first half of class we will talk about the middle of Edgar Allan Poe's life in a biographic sense. The second half of class we will discuss "the Cask of Amontillado" short story and tie it in to how Poe's life might have influenced his writing. Assigned reading for week 3: "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether." (the short story will be provided in classroom after class) 

Week 4: The first half of class we will talk about the mysterous end of Edgar Allan Poe's life in a biographic sense. The second half of class we will discuss "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether."short story and tie it in to how Poe's life might have influenced his writing. Final project is due. Learners may elect to show the project in class if they wish or turn it in to the instructor via the Teacher Tab in the classroom for a final grade. 

The goal of this class is to examine the genius of Edgar Allan Poe through his works and to discover the origins of the detective story genre as well as to examine some of his well known works to expand understanding of this enigmatic literary giant.