Poe Web Quest

Edgar Allan Poe

Introduction

Everyone loves a horror story. Stephen King, the master of 20th century horror has over forty novels and numerous box office hits. From his first novel and movie hit Carrie in 1974 to his latest movie hit The Green Mile, Stephen King is often compared to the 18th century weaver of horror tales, Edgar Allan Poe. Poe's troubling life shaped his stories of hauntings and death.

Task

The local museum committee has decided to hold a Poe Exhibit. They have narrowed the number of selections to four. You are part of a team that will research Poe's life and works to help the committee decide which of the four they will include in the exhibit. Read all the works assigned by your teacher and choose your favorite to present to the committee.

You will create a project that includes:

a timeline of major events in Poe's life.

an analysis of how his life impacted his literature

identify the literary devices, theme, type of characters, or setting, etc. that defines Poe's style and analyze how they add meaning to the work

an analysis of how the setting creates the mood and tone of the story.

You will present your literary selection to the museum committee using your choice of video, PowerPoint, scrap book, or web page.

The Process

To accomplish the task, you will first read several of Poe's literary works and then choose the one you will present to the consortium. Your team must become an expert on Poe's life and the events that later affected your literary work. Visit the Poe Museum to divide up the research and coordinate your teams efforts to find out more about Poe's life. Once you have finished your research, come back together as a team and create a timeline of important events from Poe's life that affected his works.

Poe Museum Poe Resources

Second, your team needs to read and research the literary works of your choice. Use the books provided in the classroom and read your literary works and find websites to help you research the work itself. Visit the Glossary Page to refresh you on terms and concepts found in the short stories or narrative poems.

Short Stories

"The Tell-Tale Heart" "The Pit and the Pendulum" "The Fall of the House of Usher"

"The Cask of Amontillado" "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" "The Purloined Letter"

Narrative Poems

"Annabel Lee" "To Helen" "The Raven"

Third, once you have completed the museum task, your team needs to decide how you want to present your literary selection to the museum committee. You can use Movie Maker, PowerPoint, or any other program that creates presentations.

Last, you need to bring together all your information by creating the project of your choice. Remember to include the following elements:

Poe's timeline depicting critical moments in his life with a short biography.

theme in the work and how it relates to his life.

Explain the use of irony, early death, premature burial, and insanity in the works of your choice and how they define Poe's style.

Evaluation/Rubric

It's time to take a look a how your team has done. Click on RUBRIC to begin your evaluation.

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Conclusion

Congratulations! You are now an expert on the life of Edgar Allan Poe. Having read at least one of his literary selections, you are now ready to move on. Here are a few web sites you can visit to read more of Poe's work and life.

Extension Activities:

Poe's Impact on modern authors

Poe Library
Poe from National Parks Site
The House of Usher
Richmond Museum--a must see
Poe mystery and Biography from Mysterynet.com
Dark genius of the mystery short story A&E TV

Credits:

Some of the ideas for the development of this web quest were obtained from Southern Middle School.