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A Dream Within a Dream

The Black Cat

The Raven

Edgar Allan Poe was an American poet, short story writer, editor, critic and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of the macabre, Poe was one of the early American practitioners of the short story and a progenitor of detective fiction and crime fiction. He is also credited with contributing to narrative forms of the emergent science fiction genre.

He was born to a Scots-Irish family in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1809, the son of actress Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and actor David Poe, Jr. Both parents died when Edgar was 3 years old. Poe was then taken into the home of John Allan, a successful tobacco merchant in Richmond, Virginia. Although his middle name is often misspelled as "Allen," it is actually "Allan," after this family.

He died in 1849, at the age of 40. The cause of his death is undetermined and has been attributed to alcohol, drugs, rabid cat bites, and other agents.

At some time these poems, stories and books have been read, or will be read in the Learn English Book Club with Your Teacher online.

 

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