“If Only Poe Had
Succeeded When He Said Nevermore to Drink”
DIRECTIONS:
Pass out the Edgar Allan Poe packet
Annotate the essays.
Annotating means to underline important ideas, write comments, or definitions.
FACTS and VOCABULARY to HELP YOU UNDERSTAND the TEXT:
Heroin: is a drug, an opiate
Heroine: is a female hero
Poe set off for Baltimore on the four a.m. steamer on Thursday, September 27th.
There is no reliable witness or evidence regarding Poe’s whereabouts or activities between September 27th and October 3rd, when he is found sitting in a stupor at Gunnar’s Hall, a Baltimore tavern, strangely dressed and semi-conscious.
Tavern: a bar with a restaurant. In the 19th century, many taverns also had rooms to rent.
Watering Hole: a slang term for a bar where many people, particularly locals, go to drink, socialize, and find out the latest gossip.
Polling Place: where one votes
Dire: serious, urgent, darkly urgent
Onlookers: people who are standing around looking at or watching the event that is taking place.
Vacant stupidity: when one is not feeling well and is sitting staring, unfocused.
Dingy: dirty
Cast off clothing: Snodgrass thought that Poe had been robbed of his clothes, and that Poe was wearing the clothes that had been “cast off” or thrown away by someone else.
Muddy was Poe’s mother-in-law and his aunt. Poe married his cousin who was thirteen at the time of their wedding.
Why did Herring refuse to take care of Poe?
Herring had taken Poe and his family in when they needed shelter, and he thought Poe was ungrateful, and when drunk he was abusive to Herring.
In what state was Poe in when he was carried into the carriage?
Insensible means not aware of your surroundings. Poe was insensible and muttering when he was put into the carriage.
To Adorn means to decorate or to make more beautiful.
Stupor: Unaware of his surroundings, semi-conscious.
Tremor: a trembling or a shaking of the limbs
Delirium: a feverish hallucination
Spectral: ghostly
Why does Poe not like his cousin, Neilson?
Poe believed Neilson was jealous of Poe’s literary reputation.
Neilson offered a home just for Poe’s wife and mother-in-law, so they could get away from Poe.
Poe thought Neilson was bitter.
Incoherent: unintelligible; not making any sense; crazy
Degradation: decline
Rouse: to raise up; to cheer up; to uplift someone’s spirits;
Feeble: weak
Exertions: extreme physical efforts
Euphemism: a phrase used to hide the unpleasant nature of something. An example would be using the term “cerebral inflammation” to hide the fact that the cause of death was alcoholism. We use euphemisms every day. We say,” I have to go powder my nose” or “I have to see a man about a horse” when we have to leave to go to the restroom. Even the word “restroom” is a euphemism for it disguises what we are actually doing there. We don’t “rest” in the restroom.
Cerebral: having to do with the brain
Inflammation: swelling
Cerebral inflammation: swelling of the brain.
What are the three explanations given for Poe’s death?
Create a time line from September 27th to October 7th detailing what we know about Poe’s life.
TIME LINE of the LAST TEN DAYS of EDGAR ALLAN POE'S LIFE:
After his engagement was broken off with Elmira Shelton, Poe left Richmond, Virginia, for Baltimore on the four a.m. steamer on Thursday, September 27th.
There is no reliable witness or evidence regarding Poe’s whereabouts or activities between September 27th and October 3rd, where he is found sitting in a stupor at Gunnar’s Hall, a Baltimore tavern, strangely dressed and semi-conscious.
Poe was admitted into the hospital at five in the afternoon of Thursday, October 3rd.
Poe arrived at the hospital in a stupor. He remained unconscious until three a.m. the next morning, Friday, October 4th, when he developed tremors and became violently delirious, resisting the efforts of two nurses to keep him in bed.
Poe violently raved from 3 a.m. Friday, to Saturday evening – approximately, thirty hours.
Saturday evening he began to call out someone’s name until three o’clock Sunday morning, when he expired or died. He was deliriously calling out someone’s name for nine hours.
Poe raved a full day or more, through Saturday evening, October 6th, when he started deliriously calling out someone’s name until three o’clock, Sunday morning, October 7th.
Vocabulary:
Binge: an intense
indulgence in something that is not particularly good for you.
Elizabeth tries to
keep a healthy diet but every once in a while she engages in a chocolate binge.
Dylan Thomas was a
Welsh poet who was as famous for his binge drinking as he was for his brilliant
poetry.
Strewn: to be
thrown about
Anselmo’s mom got
mad at him when she found his clothes strewn about the floor.
Ascribe: to attribute
to someone.
The short story was
ascribed to Dalicia.
Whitewash: to make
someone seem better than s/he is; to paint or gloss over the flaws of someone.
Sentence: To make
it seem that Poe died of rabies rather than the chronic alcoholism he suffered
from is to whitewash the truth of his life and his death.
What are the names
of the writers of this article, “If Only Poe Had Succeeded When He Said
Nevermore to Drink”
The writers are
Burton R. Pollin and Robert E. Benedetto
The writers are
refuting Dr. Bentitez’s claim that Poe died from rabies.
Refuting: rejecting
or showing why an argument is incorrect.
They are saying
there is no medical evidence to support the rabies argument.
Find their rebuttal
and underline it.
Rebuttal of
Benitez’s claim that Poe died of rabies:
Jayla: Caterina,
Poe’s beloved kitty, died of starvation and not rabies.
Salome: Every
person who knew Poe at the time of his death would not have agreed with the
rabies explanation. Every person who saw Poe during his last days said he was
drunk. Even Poe’s letters were filled with references to his drinking.
According to
eyewitnesses, Poe was drunk when he was discovered in a Baltimore saloon three
days before his death.
According to
eyewitness accounts, Poe was drunk and was suffering from chronic alcoholism at
the time of his death.
The eye witnesses
were people who knew Poe well. One was a doctor, Dr. John J. Moran, who treated
Poe as he was dying; another was an editor, Dr. Joseph Snodgrass, who had
worked with Poe and was called to help when Poe was discovered dying; another
was a printer, Joseph Walker, who found Poe in what he described as an
“alcoholic stupor” outside a tavern in Baltimore.
Furthermore, Dr.
John J. Moran, the attending physician at Poe’s death, had corresponded with
Poe’s aunt and mother-in-law, Marie Clemm, regarding Poe’s alcoholic condition
in the final week of his life. And even Poe’s letters to his wife, and his
mother-in-law/aunt confirmed the history of his alcoholic binges.
Vocabulary:
Incubation: a
period during which a disease is asymptomatic. The patient has been exposed to
the virus or bacteria, but does not have the symptoms yet – in other words,
is asymptomatic. The virus or the bacteria has invaded the body; for
example, someone sneezes, spreading the cold virus, and you, unluckily breathe
it in, allowing it access into your body. The virus is now spreading
throughout the body, invading cells but you are asymptomatic (without symptoms)
and are unaware at that point that you are infected.
Assignment:
Read “Rabies Death
Theory” by R. Michael Benitez, M.D.
Find the main idea
Find and highlight or underline the evidence Dr. Benitez uses to support his main idea
Circle or underline any words you do not understand.
Important Points of Dr. Benitez's Argument:
Rabid patients
cannot always recall the moment of contact with a diseased animal.
The incubation
period for rabies can be as long as a year.
The site of the
bite is often small and not detectable by the patient.
Nowhere did Benitez
suggest that Caterina, Poe’s beloved cat, was the agent for the transmission of
the disease – that she bit Poe and gave him rabies.
VOCABULARY:
Incubation: In medicine,
the time from the moment of exposure to a disease until the symptoms begin to
appear.
Incubation: a
period during which a disease is asymptomatic. The patient has been exposed to
the virus or bacteria, but does not have the symptoms yet – in other
words, the patient is asymptomatic. The virus or the bacteria has invaded
the body; for example, someone sneezes, spreading the cold virus, and you,
unluckily breathe it in, allowing it access into your body. The virus is
now spreading throughout the body, invading cells but you are asymptomatic
(without symptoms) and are unaware at that point that you are infected.
Inoculation: A deliberate
introduction into a human or animal of serum made with weakened or dead cells
from a disease, which causes the white blood cells to fight the disease. This
causes the person or animal to then be immunized or protected from the disease.
Rhabdovirus: the active
agent in the bodily fluids of a rabid animal or human. It is this virus that
causes rabies.
Dr. Benitez's Points:
Isabel:
Benitez: He does not admit
that the lack of a bite or scratch is a weakness.
Lynn:
The incubation period for
rabies may be as long as a year.
Asiah:
The lack of a bite or
a scratch does not mean that he didn’t die of rabies.
Kristina:
Just because Poe’s cat,
Caterina, did not die from rabies does not mean that Poe didn’t contract it
from another sources.
Application:
Imagine that you are
writing a biography of Edgar Allan Poe. Write the last few paragraphs of your
book, in which you tell about Poe’s death.
Structure of the Essay:
First paragraph:
Set up the tragic
circumstances of Poe’s last ten days.
Set up the question regarding
the mysterious way Poe died.
Briefly state the two
theories regarding Poe's death - he either died from alcoholism and the
complications of alcoholism, or he died from rabies.
Second paragraph:
You may want to use the
account of Dr. John J. Moran, Poe's attending physician, and the accounts of
the eyewitnesses of Poe's death. The information from the time line will
be useful here.
Third paragraph:
You need to include Dr.
Benitez’ opinion that Poe died from rabies. You MUST USE his evidence.
Fourth paragraph:
You have to show how either
Benitez is correct and use evidence to support Benitez’ claim, or show how Dr.
Moran’s claim that he died from alcoholism is correct and use evidence to
support his claim.
You must use a counter
claim to show why your opinion is right and why the other opinion is wrong.
Fifth Paragraph:
Final concluding paragraph
in which you restate the main idea, briefly list your arguments, and briefly
state why the opposing argument is wrong. The last sentence should be
your final thoughts about Edgar Allan Poe and his death.
 |
| Bill Murray as Edgar Allan Poe |
Start working on
your five paragraph “last page of your Edgar Allan Poe biography” essay in
which you discuss the various theories of how Poe died. The essay must include
the medical and forensic (the letters from Poe to his family, and eyewitness
accounts) evidence which suggests he died of alcoholism, cerebral inflammation,
or exposure, or all three, and the medical evidence which suggests he died from
rabies. Choose one of the theories – alcoholism or rabies – and use the
evidence to defend your choice.
Structure of the Essay:
First paragraph:
Set up the tragic
circumstances of Poe’s last ten days.
Set up the question
regarding the mysterious way Poe died.
Set up the two competing
theories of how Edgar Allan Poe died: either from alcoholism or rabies.
Second paragraph:
You may want to use Dr.
John J. Moran’s account of how Poe died, and the eye-witness accounts. In
this paragraph you may want to refer to the time-line you constructed of Poe’s
final days to help you.
Third paragraph:
You need to include Dr.
Benitez’ opinion that Poe died from rabies. You MUST USE his evidence.
Fourth paragraph:
You have to show how either
Benitez is correct, that Poe died from rabies, and use evidence to support
Benitez’ claim, or show Dr. Moran is correct, that Poe died from alcoholism and
its complications, and use evidence to support Moran's claim.
You must use a counter
claim to show why your opinion is right and why the other opinion is wrong.
Fifth Paragraph:
Final concluding paragraph
in which you restate the main idea, briefly list your arguments, and briefly
state why the opposing argument is wrong. The last sentence should be
your final thoughts about Edgar Allan Poe and his death.
To help you get started,
reread your notes, annotations, and the sources to refresh your memory. Then do
a quick write where you quickly, and without regard to punctuation, grammar or
spelling, write down everything you know about the topic. Everything - in
whatever order the ideas come to you. After you are finished, reread it
and then begin organizing the information according to the structure above. The
organizing of the information will be your first draft.
One possible way to start your essay:
It was on an unseasonably cold and rainy October afternoon
in Baltimore that Joseph Walker found a drunken man in filthy, odd fitting
clothes lying in a gutter. However, the drunk was not just any drunk; the drunk
was the one of the greatest American writers of the nineteenth century. He was
Edgar Allan Poe, the great master of horror and mystery stories, whose own
mysterious death rivals some of his own greatest mystery stories. The physicians, friends, and family
members who were present with Poe at the time of his illness and death, seem to
believe that Poe died from his long struggle with alcoholism – a battle he
fought long and hard for many years and ultimately lost. However, one hundred fifty
years later, a medical doctor working on the test case of a drunken man found in
the gutter whose initials were E.P. realized that the case was that of Edgar
Allan Poe, and that the great author did not die from alcoholism and its
complications, but of rabies.
The last ten days of Poe’s life was baffling. According to documents we know that Poe
boarded a th at 4 a.m. from Virginia headed to
Baltimore, but after that we know nothing about his whereabouts or what he was
doing until he was found, in a
drunken stupor in a Baltimore saloon, dressed in an other man’s shabby,
cast-off clothes.
steamer on Thursday morning, September 27
