Edgar Allen Poe Texts

I had always heard the name of Poe floating around as a grew up as a young lover of reading and the dark tones that could be found in suspenseful and thrilling novels. Unfortunately, as I only knew Poe as a poetry writer, I had no interest in reading his works and instead elected for more accessible titles for my age range. It was not until college that I was actually introduced to Poe, and I immediately fell in love with Fall of the House of Usher for all the reasons you can imagine. I can absolutely imagine myself teaching his collections and Philosophy of Composition in my classes; mostly likely held at an 11th or 12th grade level. I don't think I would need an AP course for his novels. The Raven, however, could be introduced at even a sophomore level. If I were conducting a gothic unit, there's no way I would ever be able to complete it without taking a look at at least some of the many quality pieces that Poe has to offer.

 To pair with my most recent book talk concerning The Book of Lost Things, Poe would actually be an excellent companion. I think those two sources would have a great deal of offer in terms of introducing students to topics regarding mental illness by starting conversation about conditions that are considered to be non-normative. How exactly I would approach these discussions is still up in the air, but I definitely feel these two sources are able to broach the topics in an engaging and nonjudgmental fashion. I could also pair them with Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, but I would only select choice pieces of it for time's sake if I"m only asking a class to read a whole other novel. Perhaps a good way to do this would be in the form of selected reading, where a student can choose between Connolly, selected works by Poe, and Austen.

 There are, of course, obstacles with Poe's work, but I believe we can discuss how an author is separate from their work in a respectful manner that consider Poe's life and time period.

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