| Term Paper Title | Edgar Allan Poe At The University Of Virginia |
| # of Words | 1062 |
| # of Pages (250 words per page double spaced) | 4.25 |
Edgar Allan Poe at the University of Virginia
Born in Boston on January, 19, 1809, Edgar Allan Poe moved to Richmond just three years later with his mother and infant sister. His mother, a talented actress, succumbed to pneumonia soon after their arrival, leaving her children all alone in a strange city. John Allan, a prominent Virginia merchant, agreed, under pressure from his wife, to care for Poe and to pay for his education. While still a young teenager, Poe received special tutoring to gain early entrance into the new University of Virginia, probably on the recommendation of General John H. Cocke, a good friend of Allan's as well as of Thomas Jefferson.
Edgar Allan Poe enrolled at the University on February 14, 1826, the 136th of 177 students registering for the second session. He attended classes in the Schools of Ancient and Modern Languages, under Professors Long and Blaetterman respectively. Although not known for spending long hours at his lessons, Poe was already remarkable for his brooding, lonely genius. His excellent memory allowed him to read ahead in class and recite correctly even when utterly unprepared. In his final examinations, he took top honors in French and Latin and was cited for excellence by both professors.
Only in class from seven until nine-thirty each morning, Poe had ample free time to explore Charlottesville and participate in University activities. He was elected to the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society on June 17, 1826 and once served as its Secretary pro tem. Shortly after joining, he read an essay on "Heat and Cold" and probably took part in the many lively debates of the term. Although he did not regularly present original work to the Society, he often entertained his closest friends with private readings in his room. According to George Douglass Sherley:
His little room on the West Range was often filled with a small, select audience of his most particular friends, who, spell-bound, scarcely breathed while they eagerly listened to some story - strange and wild like all the rest - that he had just written and which he read with his whole soul thrown into every action and intonation of his voice - now loud and rapid like the mad rush of many waters, and now sinking into a scarcely audible whisper, of some terrible sentence of incantation or curse sending a shiver over all that heard.
Generally well-liked, Poe was considered talented, if slightly odd by his peers. Once when he read a short story written specially for his friends, someone laughingly claimed that the hero's name, "Gaffy," was repeated too often. Before the others could object, Poe hurled his manuscript into the fire, thereby earning the longtime nickname "Gaffy" Poe. This nickname, though never relished, is said to have followed him all the way to West Point five years later.
In the University of Virginia Library's WWW Exhibit "Arise and Build" a letter is displayed, written by Poe and addressed to John Allan, dated September 21, 1826. His letter bemoans the approach of finals and the many hours spent studying. Poe also writes about the continuing construction of the University, noting that the Rotunda was almost completed....Read entire document
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