Урок за спецкурсу «Література США; поема Е. А. По "Аннабел Лі"»

Edgar Allan Poe's Poem “ANNABEL LEE"

 (1809—1849).

 

Objectives:

• to give students some general information about Edgar Allan Poe;
• to make a summary of the poem of Edgar Allan Poe;
• to analyze trends/ special styles/  and genres of  his works;
• to develop students ‘skills of  reading, speaking and to practice pupils’ skills in making presentations.

Equipment: the projector, white screen, the portrait of  Edgar Allan Poe and presentation about the poet.

Procedure

1. Introduction

Edgar Allan Poe – is an  South American poet, prose writer, critic, editor, one of the first professional  US writers, who lived only by literary work, who knew the fame and popularity, and tragedy in personal life, mystical fits of health…

Tasks:

 

1. To acquaint students with the biography of Edgar Allan Poe.

 

2. To form the skills of analysis of the poem”ANNABEL LEE” .

 

3. To describe the mystical motifs of the poem.

 

4. Develop students' creativity.

 

 

Main part

Our task: we are going to speak about Edgar Allan Poe, who opened a new era in the story of American literature and about his literary traditions…

Therefore, we offer to your attention a presentation about the poet.... Please pay attention to the main milestones of the poet's life and creative work...

 

 

PRESENTATION-  What does Poe mean as an author?

1. Warm-up

Analysis of the poem and the main images and ideas, and topics of it.

 

"ANNABEL LEE" BACKGROUND INFORMATION

All the women in Poe's life died young, including his mother, sister, and wife.

Poe's wife was much younger... Poe got  married to his 13-year old cousin in 1833. Her blood vessel burst nine years later and  she remained an invalid until her death in 1847.

 

Virginia's death devastated Poe, who continued to abuse alcohol and drugs until his death in 1849.

 

"Annabel Lee," written in 1849, was addressed to Virginia and tells of the death of a young woman.

Many of Poe's works demonstrate a fascination with death.

 

“Annabel Lee”

• It was many and many a year ago,
  In a kingdom by the sea,
  That a maiden there lived whom you may know
  By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
  And this maiden she lived with no other thought
  Than to love and be loved by me.
• I was a child and she was a child,
  In this kingdom by the sea;
  But we loved with a love that was more than love-
  I and my Annabel Lee;
  With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
  Coveted her and me.
• And this was the reason that, long ago,
  In this kingdom by the sea,
  A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
  My beautiful Annabel Lee;
  So that her highborn kinsman came
  And bore her away from me,
  To shut her up in a sepulcher
  In this kingdom by the sea.

 

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulcher there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

 

2. Analysis

1.The main images of the poem are the poet and the Annabel Lee.

“But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.”

 

2.The main idea of the poem is to show the eternal and tender, truthful and sincere love of the poet.

“And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulcher there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.”

 

3.Distant relative did not want her to marry the poet and locked her up in a tomb on the seashore.

“So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulcher
In this kingdom by the sea.”

 

4.Many metaphorical images become witnesses of this love, like the wind, the moon, the sea, stars..

 

5.The poet uses biblical images that oppose each other, like seraphim, angels and demons…

“And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.”

 

6.The general mood of the poem is sad and melancholic, the poet is depressed because he loses his beloved and dies near her grave…

“For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulcher there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.”

 

III Summing-up

Teacher: At the end of our lesson I would like to make the conclusion about important merits of Edgar Poe and features of his poem “Annabel Lee”.

1. He assembled true facts from life.

2. His literary criticism formed literature

3.His poetry is memorable and symbolic

4.He used psychological analysis

5.He created the modern story (the unity of  the character, detail, mood).

6.He created the genre of detective story (inspired by Sherlock Holmes characters)

7.He showed the power of human intelligence

8.He is the founder of scientific criticism

 

Hometask:

 Answer the test questions