9th Grade I Asked the Class to Essay

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9th Grade

I asked the class to find biographies and research on the life of Edgar Allan Poe over the weekend. Today, I want four groups of 5 students each to take 5 minutes in groups and list problems that Poe may have had in his life. One student from each group will respond to my excerpts from reading of "The Raven"; look for words that might explain Poe's life and mental condition in 1845, and anything pertaining to America in 1845 that offers clues to his writing.

Teacher reading: "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary…"

Group 1: Poe was an orphan after his father ran away and his mother died of TB. He may have been affected his whole life by the sadness

Teacher reading: "Ah distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, and each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor…"

Group 2: After Poe was sort of adopted by John and Frances Allan, he went to the University of Virginia but ran out of money; John Allan wouldn't give him any money to live and he was desperate to survive

Teacher: Why would that situation provide Poe with those images in his head?

Group 2: He felt abandoned, and maybe the ghost of his dead mother was in his head

Teacher: "And the silken and uncertain rustling of each purple curtain, thrilled me -- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before…"

Group 3: Maybe because he drank so much alcohol, he was confused about his emotions

Teacher: But why would the poet write that he was thrilled and had "fantastic terrors?

Group 3: Well he drank too much but he also took opium; our group researched the body's reaction to opium; the user has a rush of pleasure and relief from pain for awhile; maybe he was on an opium high when he wrote the poem…he let his mind wander into weirdness.
..

Teacher: "Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, doubting, and dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared dream before…"

Group 4: Remember Poe married his cousin Virginia and like his mom, Virginia came down with TB and died. This could be the reason he saw darkness and had weird dreams

Teacher: "Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling… Ghastly grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore…"

Group 5: All we kept thinking about was Poe's weird life, kicked out of the army, losing good writing jobs because he was drunk, deaths in his….....

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"9th Grade I Asked The Class To", 11 February 2013, Accessed.18 May. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/9th-grade-asked-class-104304