I have to write a research paper on Poe's common theme, symbol, or form of his body of work and then discuss the importance of that to our understanding of the work. Does anyone have an idea for this? Please HELP. English is my worst subject and my grade depends on it. Also, where can i find critics on Poe's works of the raven?

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2001

Answers

Dear Christina,

My suggestion for you is that you find something which recurs in Poe and which you find particularly interesting, and feel that you could write a paper on.

At the moment, I am writing my dissertation on Representations of Death in selected writings by Poe, since this enables me to explore several different areas and concepts which relate to Poe, and this could be a possible way for you to go with this.

However, I stress once again that you should identify something that really motivates you about Poe's work, and concentrate on that: for me it was representations of death; for you, it might be something completely different (I don't know... development of the Detective story, anything), so please don't despair. I think you'll find that Poe is pretty much a writer who allows all kinds of approaches.

If you would like to discuss this in more depth with me, please feel free to e-mail, and I'll try to get back to you on any queries or comments you may have:

Yours sincerely,

Pragmatic_Poe

-- Anonymous, March 15, 2001

here's an idea christina... go fuck yourself

-- Anonymous, May 16, 2001

eat my penis and like it fuckers

-- Anonymous, April 02, 2002