My Book-of -the-Month= "The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe"

You can never have too much Poe! One of the greatest writers of all time, Poe has written many stories, poems, and the like. So here they all are, waiting to be read in "The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe" (Seen Below).
                                              
                                                
Included in the book are timeless classics, including "The Black Cat", "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Masque of the Red Death", and so much more!
The types of literature and literary devices in this novel are so numerous and well used, you will be hard-pressed to find anything quite like it. In between the covers lay devices such as symbolism, similes, metaphors, and so much more!
As a reader of this fantastic book, I have to give it five stars! Everything flowed well and made perfect sense, but what really got me was "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". The story kept me trapped inside a world of gruesomeness and intrigue, sending delightful chills down my spine every step of the way. I especially loved the part of the tale when the murder was revealed to be an escaped Orangutan, who was merely trying to give the victim a haircut. Such strangely satisfying writing is not easy to come by, so you can save a lot of time searching for a good book right now just by choosing this wonderful collection.
And remember - You can never have too much Poe!

Picture of O. Henry

Source:
http://www.inspirationline.com/images/O_henry.jpg

O. Henry - 10 Facts You Probably Didn't Know

#1. O. Henry was a pseudonym (pen name) for one of the American short story writers, William Sydney Porter.

#2. His was born in Greensboro, North Carolina in the year 1862.

#3. William Porter only went to school until he was 15 years old.

#4. He dropped out of school so he could work at his uncle’s drugstore.

#5. While in his 20’s Porter became both a clerk and bank teller and moved to Texas.

#6. He did not write professionally until he was in his 30’s.

#7. O. Henry was accused of embezzling funds from the First National Bank of Austin, Texas in when he was 34. After being accused of this, Porter fled to Honduras.

#8. Learning his wife was dying, O. Henry returned to be with her, and then after she died he turned himself in.

#9. The sentence was 5 years (it was a small amount of funds embezzled), of which O. Henry served 3 at a jail in Ohio.

#10. O. Henry died in the year 1910, nearly 10 years after his release from prison.

Source:
Microsoft Student with Encarta

My Essay on "The Maque of the Red Deah"

Austin S.                                                                                                                 
Mrs. Zurkowski

October 27, 2010                                                                                       
Honors English – Purples

“Masque of the Red Death” Writing Activity

            Towards the beginning of Edgar Allan Poe’s story “Masque of the Red Death”, a paragraph was devoted entirely towards the seven colored rooms of Prospero’s abbey and their contents. One of the seven colored rooms in the prince’s retreat was purple. The purple coloring in the room represented the games, fun, and playfulness of youth as well as the ignorance derived from unknowing. As such a beginning stage, it did come closer to the start of the paragraph.

            Throughout life there are seven stages, each of them unique in some way. The seven rooms in the story represented these. Purple in the second room was the color chosen to represent youthfulness. It is the second stage in life after birth, and is when the innocence of ignorance allows for fun and games. Also related to the room was the clock of life, symbolized in the story by an ebony clock located in the black room with red panes. This stage was still early on and allowed for there to be more time for transition into other stages of life.

            This purple room and its symbolic color relate to me in many ways. Youthful ignorance and playfulness are represented by the color purple as a stage of my life. As an adolescent, that stage of my life has only just been left behind. There are still remnants of the stage resident, such as a capacity for fun and games, which I am hopelessly an addict of. Board games, discovering the new and exciting world around me, and just plainly goofing off are all still with me today. However, the flip-side of the color also relates to my life. Gone is the innocence of ignorance and now actions have consequences, be them good or otherwise. If I break something when I bump into it, I will be punished. If I do well in school I am rewarded. The fun and games of purple are over, but I still have many more stage to go through.

Welcome to Second Quarter!

Hi! Second quarter is here and the class has started on the short story unit. "The Interlopers" was the first one we read and I have to say I really the author (Saki) and his writing style. When the story finished with the hugely ironic ending it had, it reminded me of some of Shakespear's work. What was the story Shakespear wrote with the character King Lear? It sounded alot like it. Anyway here are some of my goals for the second quarter: Maintain A's in all subjects (a high B in the case of AP Human Geography), read at least three good books, and to keep up to date on my blog. Speaking of my blog, I've posted a recent picture of me below, just to give you a little reference.

Recent Picture of me

Some Insight on Edgar Allan Poe...

#1. Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. He perished on October 7, 1849 in Baltimore, Maryland.
Source: http://www.poemuseum.org/life.php

#2. A terrible childhood event that affected his writing greatly was his mother's death of tuberculosis when he was only two years old.
Source: http://www.poemuseum.org/life.php

#3. Five things that may have caused Poe's death might have been beating, toxic disorder, epilepsy, rabies, or heart problems.
Source: http://www.poemuseum.org/life.php

#6. The U.S. Military Acadamy at West Point expelled Poe in 1831.
Source: http://www.poemuseum.org/life.php

#7. Poe married Virginia Clemm (his cousin) when she was only 13 years old.
Source: http://www.poemuseum.org/life.php

#9. "Murders in the Rue Morgue" was the first of Poe's detective story.
Source: http://www.poemuseum.org/life.php

#10. "The Tell Tale Heart" was written in 1843, alongside "The Black Cat".
Source: http://www.poemuseum.org/life.php

#11. "The Raven" was published in the year 1845, January 29th.
Source: http://www.poemuseum.org/life.php

#12. The picture of Poe that seems closest to the image that pops in my head while I'm reading his stories was the "Ultima Thule" daguerreotype made in 1848 by William S. Hartshorn. It seems to best show his raggedness and depressed writing manner.
Source: http://www.poemuseum.org/life.php

#14. I signed the guestbook at Poestories.com and wrote a comment.
Source: http://www.poestories.com/