Develop a 400-word composition discussing one of the topics listed for this period. Compose and format your work in MS Word, then copy and paste it under the topic you have chosen. 1 Interpreting Bartleby (Use this as your title.) Is this a critique of the failures of management in the business world? Or is it a charting of the downhill spiral of a deranged and perhaps psychotic individual? Or—do you have another interpretation of the story? 2 Ichabod Crane’s Well Stocked Imagination (Use this as your title.) Discuss two ways Ichabod Crane has a well-stocked imagination, and explain how these work together for an interpretation of the story. 3 A Double Interpretation (Use this as your title.) Citing one of the three Poe tales assigned for Week Four, clarify two (or three) possible interpretations. Mention details that support each interpretation. 4 Supernal Women (Use this as your title.) From Poe’s marriage to a beautiful cousin to Annabel Lee to the astonishing description of Ligeia, Poe shows that he is obsessed with beautiful women. Madeline may fit this description, too. Explore the thematic importance of women in two Poe works. 5 Darkness and Dark Places (Use this as your title.) In Poe’s works we find a murder in the middle of the night, a dark mansion in a deep forest, a dark bedroom where the storyteller keeps his new bride, and a dark night when a corpse raids the world of the living. Investigate two or three stories where darkness dominates the setting, the character of a protagonist or narrator, or overall themes. 6 Compulsive Confessions (Use this as your title.) Poe’s narrators are compulsive users of alcohol and drugs. Can a case be made that his narrators are compulsive braggarts who cannot resist confessing? Sources to read. Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) “The Tell-Tale Heart” “The Fall of the House of Usher” “The Masque of the Red Death” “Annabel Lee” “Ligeia” “The Black Cat” “The Cask of Amontillado” “The Masque of the Red Death”
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