Was Poe Convinced that Phrenology is a Science?
Murray Ellison | Jan. 8, 2018
Excerpts from Murray’s VCU Master of Arts Thesis on Poe and Science © 2015
Poe continued his interest in spectacular news stories that blurred the lines between fact and fiction in an 1836 review on this topic: “A Review of Phrenology and the Moral Influences of Phrenology.” During the nineteenth century, there had been many debates among scientists whether Phrenology was a legitimate science or a pseudo-science. Advocates of this belief often used emotional appeals and anecdotal testimonials in order to “prove” ...
education
Poe & Science with Murray Ellison
"M.S. Found in a Bottle:" A Look at Poe's Skepticism of 19th-Century Science, Part II
Murray Ellison | August 31, 2017
By being unobserved, the unnamed narrator of Poe’s, “M.S. Found in a Bottle” is looking at the relics of science on the ship he is standing on as an outsider. He concludes that much of nineteenth-century science is outdated and largely based on theories of misguided scientists like Francis Bacon and Symmes. He describes the ship as having a “severely simple bow and antiquated stern,” that reminds him of “an unaccountable memory of old foreign chronicles and ages ...
Interactive Mock Trial Used As Educational Resource
For those unfamiliar with the Mock Trial, it's our most popular offering for school groups and it works really well for adults, too! We take Poe's great story "The Tell-Tale Heart" and treat it as though it were testimony from a murderer on trial in a courtroom. Before we read the story, we "cast" several roles: judge, prosecuting attorney, defense attorney and jury foreman. Everyone else is on the jury!
How Does It Work?
The judge calls the court to order and the defendant (a Poe staffer, typically the Education Coordinator) takes the stand. Poe's story serves as ...
The Imp of the Poeverse
Which story does Poe scholar Thomas Ollive Mabbott deem as one of Poe's "great stories, although not one of the most popular?" There may be many obscure stories coming to mind; however, this particular story falls under the category of Horror and may give us insight into the development of the psychological thriller sub-genre, as well as allow us to further study the psychology of Poe's mind, if even briefly.
In July of 1845, Poe's horrific tale, "The Imp of the Perverse," was published in Graham's Magazine. According to American critic Benjamin De Casseres, "We've all got that 'imp' in ...