Edgar Allan Poe Research Paper

His unique style terrifies many to the core. His dramatic twists keep the reader on edge and he is known as the “Father of the American Detective Fiction”. The “detective fiction” is subgenera, which involves a crime, a mystery, usually a murder, and a detective to investigate that crime or murder. It became popular during the 1840’s because of Edgar Allen Poe. His is known for his frightening tales of death, murder, insanity, and suspense. He developed an investigative voyage that consists of a metropolitan setting, a violent crime, an unintelligent constabulary, the persecuted suspect, the confession, and a cleverly complicated solution reviling the true murderer by an ingenious gentleman and his colleague. Some examples of his most famous

In addition, Poe says, “The tales were little more than old tunes played in a new key” (Rachman, "Edgar Alan Poe and the Origins of Mystery Fiction"). Poe’s intentions were to emphasis logic and analytical thought in his stories, not to simply entertain the public. He stops writing the detective fiction in 1845. Mr. Steven Rachman, journalist of Stand Magazine says that Poe’s life was full of “self-destructive behavior”. There are many speculations, perhaps he never recovered from the death of his mother or the issue of abandonment by his father, and adopted father. Edgar Allen Poe’s tragic life, Dark Romanticism, and Gothic Fiction influenced Poe’s American detective

During the 19th century, modern short stories “reflected the dominant literary modes of the day” (“Short Story”, p. 1). During Poe’s time, the literature movement was Romanticism. An emphasis is placed on intense emotion such as, suspense, mystery, horror, and nature’s beauty, which definitely characterizes Poe’s short stories. Romanticism that was “rooted in the German movement preferred intuition and emotion to the rationalism of the Enlightenment” (Wikipedia, "Romanticism") In considering Poe’s detective fiction this statement is certainly contradictory. His detective fiction was the epitome of rational deduction or analytical thought. He likes Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s aesthetic theory, but “Poe develops his own version of aesthetic theory of the artwork as a form in which every detail contributes to the overall effect” (eNotes.com, "Edgar Allan Poe Essay - Edgar Allan Poe Mystery & Detective Fiction Analysis - eNotes.com"). He publishes these articles called the, “Philosophy of Composition” and “The Poetic Principle” for everyone to follow (eNotes.com, "Edgar Allan Poe Essay - Edgar Allan Poe Mystery & Detective Fiction Analysis - eNotes.com"). Poe demonstrates those theories is his detective fiction. Beginning with “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, which contains basic features such as, the murder scene, the motive, the unexpected solution. Poe presents the reader with two