The Theories and Influence of Edgar Allan Poe through His Themes, Tone, and Style

1. The Theories and Influence of
Edgar Allan Poe through His
Themes, Tone, and Style
Thomas Clifft
Composition and Modern English II, XTIS-09/T4
Professor Owens
April 07, 2009

2. Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe’s theories and
influence modifies our way of
thinking away from literary
appropriateness to one of hunger,
death, despair, and destruction
through imagination, ingenuity, and
intrigue.

3. In the story “The Masque of the Red
Death”, he wrote about a plague that
kills everyone.
“Blood was its Avatar and its seal –
the madness and the horror of
blood” (1.2) (Poemuseum).

4. The theme begins immediately in
each tale as his unmatched ability
for detail lures you deeper into
the unforeseen events unfolding
in your own imagination.

5. Many of Poe’s tales and poems
still enchant us today because of
the introduction of plays and
horror movies taken from his
works about torture, insanity, and
death.

6. Each reader has no choice but to
immerse into the stories and
have mental images of the
horrors taking place.

7. Poe’s poetry challenges us to
think in an analytical way and
forces us to learn new methods
for understanding an underlying
meaning.

8. The Raven
“Perched upon a bust of Pallas
just above my chamber door-
Perched, and sat, and nothing
more” (3.1.5-6) (Island-of-
Freedom).

9. Pallas
Avid readers know this is the
Greek Goddess of Wisdom but
for everyone else there is
Thesaurus.

10. Edgar Allan Poe influences
our own thought process.

11. His works make you learn
new ideas, definitions, and
ways of thinking.

12. His harsh life
contributed to the tone
and style of his themes.

13. Poe criticized other
American writers and
traditional styles of writing.

14. Controversy spiked the
interest of the American
reader.

15. Intrigue surrounds his death,
the legacy lives on through his
works and those that attempt
to recreate or decipher them.

16. A professor writes, “His
enormous popularity and his
continuing influence of literature
depend less on legend or vision
than on his stylistic and formal
accomplishments as a writer of
fiction and a great lyric poet”
(Quinn).

17. Scholars study Poe’s
literature and give credit
for his great
accomplishments.

18. Most people instantly
recognize great tales like The
Black Cat, The Tell-Tale Heart,
The Pit and the Pendulum, and
The Cask of Amontillado.

19. Edgar Allan Poe
Revenge, torture, cruelty,
guilt, confessions, and
morbid deaths all
contribute to his legacy and
influence on society today.

20. His influence is present in
our everyday lives as
today’s horror, science
fiction, and detective
stories.

21. The genius behind the
lunatic, which made him
famous.

22. His literary art will live
forever in the hearts and
minds of innocent people
beleaguered by their
inconceivable intrigue of
gothic horror.

23. Works Cited
• Cantalupo, Barbara. “Music and Poe’s “Poesy” Retrieved 4/26/2009 from
http://www2lv.psu.edu/PSA/2006MLA.html
• Hamilton, Rosemary. “Poe Lightly” Retrieved 4/26/09 from
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1983/3/83.03.06.x.html
• Island-of-Freedom. “The Raven” Retrieved on 4/19/2009 from
• http://www.island-of-freedom.com/poe.htm
• Kirjasto. Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849). Retrieved on 4/19/2009 from
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/eapoe.htm
• Poe Museum. “The Masque of the Red Death” Retrieved on 4/19/2009 from
http://www.poemuseum.org/selected_works/print_red_death.html
• Quinn, Patrick. Edgar Allan Poe. “Poetry and Tales” Library of America.
• Retrieved 4/26/2009 from http://www.loa.org/volume.jsp?RequestID=90
• Reid, Stephen. “Responding to Literature” The Prentice Hall Guide for College Writers.
• New Jersey: Pearson, 2008: 614
• Tresch, John. “Extra! Extra! Poe invents science fiction!” The Cambridge Companion to Edgar
Allan Poe. Ed. Kevin J. Hayes. Cambridge University Press, 2002. Retrieved 7 May 2009
http://cco.cambridge.org/uid=/extract?id=cco10521793262_cco10521793262A009
• Wikipedia. “Edgar Allan Poe” Retrieved 4/6/2009 from
http://en/wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe