EAP

Edgar Allan Poe had kind of an unfortunate life as a child. He had two siblings, Henry and Rosalie. His parents separated and his mom died when he was only two. After that, he and his siblings basically split up and were adopted by different family and strangers. Edgar's new parents were well off, his dad was a successful merchant. So, he was able to receive a good education. Theennnn he started drinking, ran into debt, and dropped out, or rather, quit school. He joined the army for some time, then joined out. Once out, Poe had no money, no job, and his adoptive father died and did not include Poe in his will. eventually Poe got a job as a newspaper editor, but then left that job and married his cousin, Virginia. I know what you're thinking-ew. oh it just gets worse.  She was 13, he was 27-that's like Beethoven crushing on his 17 year old student and composing a song for her. So after he married, Poe kept writing, poems and short stories, and longer ones. Several were published, but he didn't get any money for any of it.
So we have this general information about Poe, there are also lots and lots of myths. The first and foremost-his death. Some people say he was murdered, that is where there is the most evidence, but there really weren't any facts about his death. and that is a fact, about is death. there were none. facts. I love Edgar Allan Poe, particularly his short stories, particularly The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart. and The Pit and the Pendulum. Poe is dark and death and ghouls and cats, and shadows and hauntings and murders and that...is all I can think of. He is so cool. Sometimes I get so sick of regular poetry. The kind about love, about victory, about life- finally! Someone who put scary into good use! Poems and short stories don't always have to be happy or sad or reminiscing. They don't have to be an enigma or a puzzle to solve and understand. I like Poe's writing because I can understand it and it uses more common language and it is interesting! I have never read anything by him that hasn't interested me. God bless ya Poe

What is an American

I think that American is an adjective that shouldn't be used to describe a nationality. I don't think anyone can be American in that sense. America is described as a melting pot, or a salad sometimes (which I believe to be more accurate). Either way, America is made up of lots of different cultures, races and nationalities. There is no set race in America, therefore I don't think anyone should say that their nationality is American. If you're "American", you could be Italian, Polish, German, Mexican, Indian, Spanish, Korean- literally any nationality.
       By calling yourself an American I think it should describe your culture. For example: eating American food like hamburgers and hot dogs and meatloaf; that is food that originated in America. It may have elements from different nationalities, but it came about in America.
      Besides American culture, there are elements that are part of our Constitution or ideas that came from the first explorers that still are a part of America today. We talked about this a lot but it is really true: freedom and opportunities. America is considered the land of opportunities, the New World. Immigrants came originally to escape their homelands that had whatever problems-famine, government, warfare- whatever the reason, they came here, to America. All in all I think an American is a person who lives in America. Not necessarily from America, but who lives here and shares the American culture and ideas. If someone lives in America, then they automatically put themselves in American culture, even if they keep some of their own nationality's culture, it's impossible for them not to be exposed to American ideas.