ning of the high school and college student, and actually comprehend what I am read!
             ing about. I found out that this particular text that I was reading became much more enjoyable and rewarding. I then tried to figure out how I can fill the missing pieces in with my new found knowledge of nominal understanding. To assist me with my quest for conquering this text I used a thesaurus and dictionary. This paper is going to be a stretch for me because I have never written something to this nature before. It sounds like and easy task when told to you, but as your get more and more involved with it you realize that it is not an easy task. You must gather all knowledge learned in Philosophy and put it to the test. I believe that this paper will be my first true example of a text that is my own discovery, something that is my own knowledge. This will be my creativity, something straight from my thoughts.
             The first sentence of the poem, "The Raven", is basically setting the mood of the text. Poe says, "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore..." I read this and then reread this, the text is written in the average nineteenth century speech. As the theme for the majority of Poe's poems it is dark and gothic. I try to put myself in the main characters shoes, I try to get into the mind set of a man that is in an estate, all alone, in a state of awaken asleep. The state when you are not necessarily awake and coherent but you are definitely conscious. This sets the mood of a dark moonless night, where anything is possible, at least in a person's mind. While he is reading a book of lore, or of fantasy he is slowly drifting off to sleep. His last conscious thought is of a mystical story. This makes me believe that this all might be in his head.
             The poem goes on to say, "While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As o...