Study Guide ... E. A. Poe's Short Stories E-Book

Carla Aira

• Herausgeber: Carla Aira
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Study Guide… is a collection of notes that introduce students – and not only students – to poems, novels or plays written in English. They facilitate learning supplying the most important information about  literary works and so fostering their comprehension. The first part of the study guide about Edgar Allan Poe's Short Stories includes the historical, social and literary background of the period in which the book was written and some biographical notes about the author. The second part focuses on the work and deals with sources, setting, characters, commentary, critical approach, possible adaptations for theatre, cinema or television and further notes.

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notes by carla aira

Edgar Allan Poe

American History (1773 - 1861)

​historical and sociological background

When the War of Independence (1773-1783) between England and America ended, the thirteen states had to face the problem of their boundaries, of the rules for commerce and taxes and of justice. They needed a central government in order to fix a national currency, a system of law and to define the power of each state. In May 1787 there was the Convention in Philadelphia to draw a Constitution. In 1789, after the ratification of the constitution, George Washington, delegate of the state of Virginia, was elected First President of the U.S.A. till 1797. During T. Jefferson's presidency England and America were again at war because Napoleon had put a commercial blockade on French commerce with England, so the American commerce received a heavy blow. The war ended in 1815 (Treaty of Ghent) without a real winner. Meanwhile, new territories were added to the thirteen states: Louisiana, Florida, Texas and Oregon The year 1848 became famous for the well-known Gold Rush. These new annexations and the new boundaries created were called The Frontier, a term which defined the limit existing between the settlements and the unknown lands and the people living in them. Another group of people who influenced the American development both economically and socially were the slaves in particular in the Southern states. The division between the industrialised North and agricultural South became more and more evident. In 1861 the Civil War broke out under the Presidency of the Republican Abraham Lincoln, a strong opponents of slavery. This war ended in 1865 with the victory of the North and the abolition of slavery.