Unfortunately, I forgot to write down what we were supposed to address in our blogs concerning the mini-lesson reading. So, I will simply say what I think, as I believe the prompt has always been, about the selected works by Poe as a future educator.

I love Poe. It is that morally satisfactory darkness indemnified in “The Raven” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” that makes him so potent. Not to mention the fact that he can stir you in ways that are unknown previously. It is this gothic extravagance, I think, that makes him so engaging to students. Not to mention the general reluctant human fascination with the grotesque, the need to see what it looks like. I think the greatest obstacle to teaching this in a public school is not his morbid fascinations but rather his language. It hovers right on the line of what could be taught in a freshman or sophomore class. Because of this I think his works prove themselves excellent challenge-texts. They are a story that students will want to know, will be excited to figure out. Thus the material will push them to work with the language. And, Poe’s language will certainly delight them.  I know many will complain about the content; it can be quite vile at times, but those are the same people who will deny that Fahrenheit 451 should be taught in schools, and that is a separate issue. Provided that you do not have any students who truly do not have the stomach to even engage with such fantastical stories, the macabre logic and actions Poe details should be embraced as something so outlandish, so extreme that it may actually wrench the sleeping students at the back of the class out of their apathetic slumber.

The Raven occupies a special place in my heart, I must say. It was the first poem I ever understood. The poetry I was assigned in high school (and college) went right over my head. It seems like all of it is meant for someone else. But “The Raven” I, after dedicated reading, could see every action; I could hear the tone of every line. It is the coincidental connection I made with “The Raven” that makes me such a proponent of what Gallagher says about high interest readings and giving students choice in what they read. This combined with the nature of Poe makes him a good gateway to the classics.