Poe Blog post

I have always been a fan of Poe. From early high school to now, there is always something I learn from his poems or stories. What is nice about al of Poe's work, is that there almost seems to be different difficulty levels within all of his works. As a 9th grader, learning Tell Tale Heart wasn't that hard to understand, and had the creepy factor that really gives the true essence of "Poe." That's when I first because very interested in Poe.

I think Poe would be very relevant to teach in the classroom. With SO MANY themes, metaphors, similes, and so on, it is a literary treasure chest!! You basically have your pick as to what you want to the students to discover, or interpret. One thing about Poe is that is can and tends to be overdone, so I think by picking maybe some of his lesser taught work, or even maybe looked a the more popular ones from a different angle will keep the students (and you as the teacher) more interested. 

With Poe being so popular, there have been a lot of remakes of the stories, plays written about him/his works, and so much more. It would be entertaining to show students some of these clips or videos. For instance, The Simpsons re-did the Tell Tale Heart, and it is pretty funny and entertaining. It mixes Poe's text with "Simpson's" text, and I think that will read well for young students.

Overall, I think teaching Poe is important. There is no one in the literary world that comes even remotely close to his writings/themes/thinking. There is something so dark and mysterious about Poe as the person, which comes across in his work. I love The Fall of the House of Usher because there is much left to the imagination, and much speculation as to the characters. But mostly I love the description of the house and area. It sets the tone like crazy, and I am immediately brought into this world.