FATHER OF THE DETECTIVE STORY

Edgar Allan Poe:

Now it’s your turn to be the detective.

After you have read the online biography and answered the questions, click the button to view this video from biography.com.

A biography about Poe

Preview the questions below:

1. Where did Poe earn the name Allan?

2. What were three major troubles in Poe’s adult life?

Now click on the raven image to read Poe’s biography on PoeStories.com to answer the above questions on your worksheet.

Click on the name, Lenore, to link to a timeline that includes major events in Edgar Allan Poe’s life and events in history that occurred .

A timeline of the life of Poe

Within the timeline, historical events are bulleted with orange squares. Events from Poe’s life are bulleted with blue triangles.

3. What are three historical events that happened during Poe’s life that you find interesting?

4. How does it help you to know what was happening in Poe’s personal life and the world around him to better understand him as a writer?

Take the quiz from National Geographic Kids and record your best score on your worksheet. (You can retake the quiz.)

READY? Click on the stamp to test your knowledge.

Good luck!

How well do you know Poe?

Click on Poe’s original gravestone below to choose your own adventure and research Poe’s mysterious death. Vote at the end of the adventure for the theory that you believe.

Knowing Poe: It will be the death of me

Answer the following questions after researching the website:

5.) What are three theories on how Poe died?

Be sure to look at different sources in the file cabinet in the website to help you draw your conclusion. (personal letter, letter from friend/family, fact sheet, medical article, newspaper article, Poe website)

Rufus Griswold, Poe’s arch-enemy, wrote Edgar Allan Poe’s eulogy under a pseudonym or fake name for the New York Tribune newspaper in 1949.

Click on Poe’s new tombstone to read Griswold’s eulogy. Notice how Griswold praised Poe’s work but attacked Poe as a person to make himself seem like a sincere admirer of Poe’s.

Rewriting Poe’s Death

On the back of your worksheet, write a one paragraph eulogy for Poe from your investigation about his life and death.