“The Raven” and The Philosophy of Composition (pages 675-678 & 724-732)
Edgar Allan Poe
AP English Language and Composition
Ms. Kirby
Short Response: In The Philosophy of Composition, Poe explains that the speaker in
“The Raven” is impelled “by the human thirst for self-torture.” What do you think this
statement means? Do you think the speaker in the poem exhibits this compulsion?
Short Essay Prompt: Critic Daniel Hoffman believes that Poe’s analysis in The
Philosophy of Composition of how he wrote “The Raven” is pure fiction. He thinks the
essay is more a defense of Poe’s theories of poetry than an actual account of writing “The
Raven.” Moreover, he thinks Poe realized this. He says, “Poe . . . does warn us, at the
very end of his essay, to look more deeply than his autopsy of ‘The Raven’ delved: look,
he says, for ‘some undercurrent, however indefinite, of meaning.’ Do you agree or
disagree with this? Explain.