"TRUE! - nervous - very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses - not destroyed - not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily - how calmly I can tell you the whole story."
             As demonstrated here, through that quote from "The Tell-Tale Heart", it is very easy to associate Edgar Allen Poe with thoughts of dreariness and darkness and with good reason. Would you happen to agree with that statement Ian?
             Well, much of Poe's writing does reflect those very downcast moods. Poe's popular short stories, "Ligeia," "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," "The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Raven", and also of course "The Tell-Tale Heart" all serve as typical examples of his stylistic and thematic gifts. Although Poe's stories vary in their intensity, [P] ideas, [P] and characters, [P] these examples particularly demonstrate his unique gifts of description, [P] first-person narrative, [P] and detail. His mastery of language and setting and his fascination with the workings of the human psyche, are reflected in this selected group of short stories and poems.
             Morning all, and welcome to first period English, and as most of you know my name is Simon. [P] To begin, who among us knows this man? Edgar Allen Poe. Well, this morning I am going to be examining the common themes between the texts that I listed before, if you have forgotten them, Refer to your hand out. I will also show how the texts relate to the Author and how the author creates the mood and atmosphere; and also to explain the style and structure of the selected texts.
             First off, who is Edgar Allen Poe, and how do his stories relate to him per...