Introduction
Everyone loves a horror story. Stephen King, the master of 20th century horror has over forty novels and numerous box office hits. From his first novel and movie hit Carrie in 1974 to his latest movie hit The Green Mile, Stephen King is often compared to the 18th century weaver of horror tales, Edgar Allan Poe. Poe's troubling life shaped his stories of haunting and death.
The Task
The local theatre consortium has decided to hold a Poe Festival. They have narrowed the number of selections to six. You are part of a team that will research Poe's life and works to help the consortium decide which of the six they will include in the Festival.
You will create a program and a playbill that includes:
  graphics to illustrate the theme of the work
  a timeline of major events in Poe's life biography
  a short biography of events that affected his life and works
  a cast/character list
  a breakdown of your literary work's plot in acts and scenes
You will present your literary selection to the theatre consortium by creating a book/movie trailer and a movie poster (each posted on the webpage) of your literary work to be seen by the Festival Committee!

The Process
To accomplish the task, you will first be assigned to a team based on the literary work you will present at the festival. Your team must become an expert on Poe's life and the events that later affected your literary work. Visit the Poe Museum to divide up the research and coordinate your team’s efforts to find out more about Poe's life. Once you have finished your research, come back together as a team and create a timeline of important events from Poe's life that affected his works.
Second, your team needs to read and research the literary work. Visit your wing in the Poe
Library to read your literary work and find links to help you research the work itself. Visit the Glossary Page to refresh you on terms and concepts found in the short story or narrative poem.
Third, once you have completed the museum task, your team needs to decide how you are going to create your book trailer. For ideas on different how to create your trailer, see Ms.
DeGraef’s site selections and get started! Remember, you must have a movie poster to accompany your movie trailer ( http://bighugelabs.com/poster.php
)
Last, you need to bring together all your information by creating your playbill. A playbill is simply a poster that includes the title of your literary work, a visual illustrate the work, and a list of characters. The program should be a regular size sheet of paper folded once to create four (4) sides. On the cover put the title and an illustration. On the inside of the cover, put Poe's mini biography making sure to include all the details required. On the inside left place the literary work outline that is divided by acts and scenes so that the audience can follow your performance. Along the bottom of the inside pages, copy your timeline of events you found affected your literary selection. Finally place the character/cast on the back cover. Make sure to give your team credits on the bottom back cover.
Evaluation/Rubric
It's time to take a look a how your team has done. Click on RUBRIC to begin your evaluation.
You will be evaluated on how well you completed each task. Your team will be evaluated plus as a group you will have the opportunity to give feedback on how each member participated during the WebQuest.

Poe Library
Poe from National Parks Site
The House of Usher
Richmond Museum--a must see
Fun Poe site: Realm of Spooky Tales
Poe's favorites
Poe Biographical Information
Poe mystery and Biography from Mysterynet.com
Dark genius of the mystery short story
Text:
Bower, Ellen. Prentice Hall Literature Silver. Prentice Hall: New Jersey,
1994.
CD-Rom:
10,000 Graphics Pack Volume 3, Media Graphics, 1997.
Websites:
Thanks for allowing links, images, and other help for our WebQuest:
Boogiejack's Web Depot (Graphics Site)
Realm of the Mad (On Poe)
National Park Service Info on Historic Homes (Poe's home and bio)
Gothic Net Site (Poe and Graphics)
Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site (Poe)
Poe's Virtual Library (Poe and Graphics)
Richmond Museum
Realm of Spooky Tales (Poe Stories)
Norma's Stephen King Page:King of Horror
Landmarks for Schools
NC WiseOwl (Online Encyclopedia and Online Periodicals)