II. Edgar Allan Poe’s Life and Influence on The Raven
- Biographical background: Overview of Poe’s life, focusing on key events such as personal tragedies and societal influences that shaped his literary style.
- Connection to The Raven: Discuss how Poe’s life experiences, particularly his grief and despair, are reflected in the themes of the poem.
- The universal emotions of The Raven: How Poe’s depiction of loss, fear, and obsession resonates with readers across time and cultures.
Possible Sources located using Search.Libraries
Source 1
1. Dameron, J. Lasley, and Robert D. Jacobs. "Edgar Allan Poe." American Literary Critics and Scholars, 1800-1850, edited by John Wilbert Rathbun and Monica M. Grecu, Gale, 1987. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 59. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1200005838/LitRC?u=ohlnk20&sid=summon&xid=ced138ff. Accessed 26 Sept. 2025.
This is an extensive biographical essay. Note that on the right sidebar of the article you can jump to specific information on many of Poe's writings, including The Raven.
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Source 2
2. "Edgar Allan Poe." Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors, Gale, 2004. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1000078794/LitRC?u=ohlnk20&sid=summon&xid=3bffe47a. Accessed 26 Sept. 2025.
In this essay, Poe's life and works are discussed.
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Source 3
3. Lerner, Arthur. "Edgar Allan Poe." Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, edited by Lynn M. Zott, vol. 117, Gale, 2003. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1420047284/LitRC?u=ohlnk20&sid=summon&xid=2d7ed044. Accessed 26 Sept. 2025. Originally published in Psychoanalytically Oriented Criticism of Three American Poets: Poe, Whitman, and Aiken, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1970, pp. 43-62.
In this essay, Lerner examines psychoanalytical criticism of Poe's poetry, suggesting that the scope of such criticism should be broadened to cover not just the tragic elements of the poet's life but also to include his personal philosophy of poetry.
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Source 4
4. "Poe, Edgar Allan." Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of American Literature, vol. 3, Gale, 2009, pp. 1316-1320. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3008100405/GVRL?u=ohlnk20&sid=summon&xid=4da3d3cf. Accessed 26 Sept. 2025.
In this essay Poe's works are discussed in biographical and historical context.
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Source 5
5. Thompson, G. R. "Edgar Allan Poe." Antebellum Writers in the South: Second Series, edited by Kent P. Ljungquist, Gale, 2001. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 248. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1200010341/LitRC?u=ohlnk20&sid=summon&xid=0001af1b. Accessed 26 Sept. 2025.
This is an extensive biographical essay. Note that on the right sidebar of the article you can jump to specific information on many of Poe's writings, including The Raven.