I'm just writing about his life and is works. I'm not trying to prove that his writing was based on his life experiences, or anything like that. I thought this paper would be super easy since I found Poe extremely interesting, however, I'm starting to think I've bitten off more than I can chew. Someone please help me to come up with a thesis statement. I guess I just want the thesis to state something about how life wasn't easy for him and he struggled nearly his whole life and it wasn't until after his death, when he actually became famous and well known. I also want to acknowledge his darker side in the thesis. His alcohol issues and such. And I also want the fact that he has been referred to as the best American literary critic in the 19th Century to be in there, too.

First, make a list of all the negatives in Poe's life.

- orphaned young -- mother died shortly after his father abandoned the family
- was taken in by John and Frances Allan, of Richmond, Virginia, but they never formally adopted him
- attended the University of Virginia for one semester but left due to lack of money
etc.

He also is considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre.

Okay.
(All of yours plus)
-Finds childhood sweetheart engaged to another man when he returned to Richmond
-So poor at the end of the first term in college, he had to burn furniture to keep warm
-Picked up on gambling and drinking (gambling to repay debts acquired from college)
-Foster mother dies
-John Allan remarries without telling Poe
-Joined Westpoint, got himself expelled because John Allan refused to give him financial support
-Dismissed from Westpoint (that's what he wanted though)
-Foster father dies, leaves Poe from will
-Attempts two times at establishing his own magazine, both attempts fail
-Registers to study law-doesn't get accepted
-Wife (Virginia) dies
-Engages to Sarah Whitman-pledges to abstain from drinking- fails top meet condition, engagement called off by her mother
-Rekindles old flame with childhood sweetheart Elmira Royster
-Traveling to Baltimore to get Mrs. Clemm (Virginia's mother) encounters what we do not know for sure and is found sick, injured, and dirty and taken to hopital
-Died four days later
-Literary nemesis Rufus Griswold writes slanderous obituary about Poe, aiming to make the public hate him, however, creating the opposite effect

Now, let's look at his writings. Which ones are concerned with blood/tuberculosis (disease that killed his wife, his mother, and his step mother)? Which ones tell of madness (reflecting his own struggles in real life)? Which ones speak of death (reflecting his own experience seeing loved ones die)?

Poe's works are not only well written and creative, but are also replications of what was in his heart and his life.

That would be a great thesis b ut I'm not trying to prove that his works reflect his life and feelings. I didn't take notes for that or I would do that. I have well over 100 notecards all about his life and when he was editor of this and that and when which poems and short stories were published and what recognition he got for them but I have no idea what to actually write about. That's where I'm stumped. :/

Can I have your email address so I can send you what I have written? I'd post it on here but I don't want my teacher to somehow happen across it lol. I just want to know if what I have is any good and if I can actually go anywhere with it.

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Originally Posted by Amber_91

That would be a great thesis b ut I'm not trying to prove that his works reflect his life and feelings.

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I didn't mean that to be a thesis statement.

I've asked for admin permission to accept your essay via email.

Oh okay. Well I don't know how to answer the questions about his writings since I didn't research what each of his stories and poems are about...

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Originally Posted by Amber_91

Oh okay. Well I don't know how to answer the questions about his writings since I didn't research what each of his stories and poems are about...

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That's okay. I'll hope to be abl e to read your essay.

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Originally Posted by Amber_91

Oh okay. Well I don't know how to answer the questions about his writings since I didn't research what each of his stories and poems are about...

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That's okay. I'll hope to be able to read your essay.

I have another question. When parenthetically citing two sources at once, does it matter whose name you put first? I usually just put the person's name that I used first, but in this situation, they both say the same thing.

Be alphabetical with authors' last names?

Admin says to post your essay here, I will look at it right away, and then we can remove it.

Okay that's what I did. I'm sorry I'm asking so many question, but you're very helpful. I have one last question. When I'm doing the parenthetical citation and there is no author, I know I'm supposed to just put whatever comes first on the bibliography card, but if it's a title and I'm shortening it, do I put the three dots or not? Here's an example: Bibliography card says: "Chronology of the Life of Edgar Allan Poe" When I do the parenthetical citation, do I do it like- Whatever I'm saying in the sentence ("chronology"). Or ("Chronology..."). And okay I guess I'll just post what I have on here.

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Originally Posted by Amber_91

Here's an example: Bibliography card says: "Chronology of the Life of Edgar Allan Poe" When I do the parenthetical citation, do I do it like- Whatever I'm saying in the sentence ("chronology"). or ("Chronology..."). And okay I guess I'll just post what I have on here.

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How about Chronology.. Do you have the full citation in a bibliography? Are you using a style guide?

Is that all you've written so far? Should I delete it now?

Yes, please delete it. I'll do some more googling and figure it out lol and yes, that's all I have so far.

Did you think that was any good?

So far, so good (except for two "bought"s in the first sentence). How long does it have to be and where will you go with it? What ARE you trying to prove or emphasize?

I have an idea. Write about this (lots of Internet info about it); he wrote "Anabelle Lee" there (in memory of Virginia who died there). It's an interesting house with low ceilings and a dark story around it --

Poe Cottage

I have a friend who went to high school nearby and could give you inside information about it.

Oh thank you for pointing that out! I fixed it. And that's what the problem is... I have no idea what exactly I'm trying to prove or emphasize. I may look into that. The rough draft is due tomorrow, though, and I just started the typing part today and with all the source cards I have to transfer to my paper, I'm not sure if I'll have enough time (or energy lol) to do more source cards on that

What about writing about the cottage? It would be an easy segue, I think. Keep doing what you are doing and just add a tidbit in your draft about the cottage.

How long does this have to be?

She just doesn't want it to be more than ten pages. I'm not sure if that's Works Cited included, or not.

Works Cited should be extra pages. Ten or fewer for the body of the paper.

The cottage is at the end of his life.

Oh okay

I'm waiting to read more :).

I'm sorry for some reason it shows symbols where the punctuations are when I post it and it takes off my indentions so it all looks jumbled

Well remember he was a dark man when his wife Virginia died u should include the reaven and anna bell lee

The weird stuff is because you transferred it from a word processing program like Word. How long does the rough draft have to be?

I will include those, I just haven't gotten there yet lol this is taking forever to write. And I guess no more than ten pages, like the final draft.

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Originally Posted by babygirl12

well remember he was a dark man when his wife virgina died u should include the reaven and anna bell lee

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In this house in the Bronx, Poe wrote "Annabel Lee" and "Ulalume" (not "The Raven") while the family cat sat on his shoulder. Virginia was dying of TB.

So does it still look good to you?

I don't know how you write, but it sounds a bit plagiarized ("too perfect"). I hope you are being careful. Keep writing. You are on page two now. (I'm saving it on my Word program.)

You are basically doing a biography of him, so nothing new or exciting or interesting.

Lol no, that's how I write. I'm always careful not to plagiarize. I have a dictionary and a thesaurus app on my iPod that I refer to a lot. I appreciate your honesty though because that's what I'm wanting :)

Yea I guess that's true... Oh well. I just need this to graduate. I don't care if it's interesting, really lol

I've written 40,000 papers through high school, college, and grad school, plus I was a librarian for 30 years. I like to think I know what I'm talking about. Can you jazz it up a bit and make it better than a biog? A thesis statement is going to be a difficult thing to pull together.

Btw, it's two words -- "a lot."