Everything You Need to Know to Survive English Class Lecture 9: Edgar Allan Poe

On All Hallow’s Eve, the Professor turns his attention to America’s original master of the macabre: Edgar Allan Poe.

Conversations: About Edgar Allan Poe

I love teaching Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “Fall of the House of Usher” to my 11th graders. I love Poe’s language, I love his magnificent skill at crafting the perfect mood for his story, I love the way Poe could create characters and stories that stick with you not just hours after your finish the story, but months and years later. But mostly, I love teaching this story because invariably (as happened today), my class winds up having some variation of the following conversation:

Me: What the narrator is implying here is that… well… the Usher Family Tree didn’t have a lot of branches on it.
Student 1: You mean they’re inbred?
Me: Yep.
Student 2: I bet that’s why he’s so sick all the time!
Me: Very good. If a person has a recessive gene, then has a child with somebody else who has the same gene, there’s a much greater chance that the gene will become dominant. That can cause all kinds of different, unwanted conditions and abnormalities. From a genetic viewpoint, that’s the problem with inbreeding.
Student 2: Are there other problems?
Me: Of course. There’s the cultural reason it’s a bad idea.
Student 1: What’s the cultural reason?
Me: It gives me the flaming heebie-jeebies.

What I’m Reading in 2011

And now, like I did with the movies yesterday, it’s time to begin my running tally of the books I’ve read/am reading in 2011. I’m always a little ashamed that this list is invariably shorter than the movie list, even though it takes considerably longer to read most books (exception: Billy’s Looking at Me: A Family Circus Collection) than watch most movies (exception: Avatar). But I try to take comfort in the fact that I read more books in January than most of my students will read all year. As always, if it’s a book I’ve reviewed, I’ll make it a link.

1. Assholes Finish First (2010) by Tucker Max, B
2. Stupid American History: Tales of Stupidity, Strangeness, and Mythconceptions (2009) by Leland Gregory, B-
3. Feed (2010) by Mira Grant, A
4. Twisted Toyfare Theater Vol.11 (2011), B*
5. Tangled: The Graphic Novel (2010), C-*
6. The Inner Circle (2011) by Brad Meltzer, A
7. The Customer is Always Wrong (2008) edited by Jeff Martin, B-
8. The Complete Peanuts: 1975-1976 (2010) by Charles M. Schulz, A*
9. The Onion Presents The Finest Reporting on Literature, Media, and Other Dying Art Forms (2010), B
10. Maus: A Survivor’s Tale Vol. 1: My Father Bleeds History (1986) by Art Spiegelman, A*
11. Maus: A Survivor’s Tale Vol. 2: And Here My Troubles Began (1991) by Art Spiegelman, A*
12. The Crucible (1953) by Arthur Miller,A+•
13. Cake Wrecks (2009) by Jen Yates, B+
14. The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How it Changed America (2008) by David Hajdu, A
15. The Book of Vice: Very Naughty Things (and How to Do Them) (2007) by Peter Sagal, B+
16. Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Vol. 2 (2010), A*
17. The War For Late Night: When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy (2010) by Bill Parker, A-
18. The Night of January 16th (1933) by Ayn Rand, B•
19. American On Purpose (2009) by Craig Ferguson, B+
20. Superman: Our Worlds At War-The Complete Collection (2006), B+*
21. Comic Books and Other Necessities of Life (2002) by Mark Evanier, B
22. Your Flying Car Awaits (2009) by Paul Milo, B-
23. John Dies at the End (2009) by David Wong, B
24. “When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth” (2007) by Cory Doctorow, B-
25. “The Black Cat” (1843) by Edgar Allan Poe, A
26. Room (2010) by Emma Donoghue, A
27. Limitless (2001) by Alan Glynn, B
28. Your Wildest Dreams, Within Reason (2011) by Mike Sacks, C+
29.  “How Interesting: A Tiny Man” (2010) by Harlan Ellison, B-
30. Crescent (2009) by Phil Rossi, B
31. The Secret World Chronicle Book 1: Invasion (2006) by Mercedes Lackey & Steve Libby, B^
32. Son of Superman (2000) by Howard Chaykin & David Tischman, B*
33. Blood is Red (2011) by Scott Sigler, B+
34. The Throne of Fire (2011) by Rick Riordan, B
35. Fiends Vol. One (2011) by Paul Eldard Cooley, B+
36. Subculture Vol. 1: The Wrath of Geek (2011) by Kevin Freeman & Stan Yan, B*
37. The Hunger Games (2008) by Suzanne Collins, A
38. Peanuts: Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown (2011) by Craig Schulz & Stephan Patsis, B*
39. Catching Fire (2009) by Suzanne Collins, B
40. Mockingjay (2010) by Suzanne Collins, B+
41. Secret Warriors Vol. 1: Nick Fury-Agent of Nothing (2009) by Jonathan Hickman, A*
42. Deadline (2011) by Mira Grant, B+
43. Zombies!: An Illustrated History of the Undead (2011) by Jovanka Vuckovic, B-
44. Cujo (1981) by Stephen King, B
45. Locke and Key Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft (2008) by Joe Hill, A-*
46. Penny Arcade Vol. 7: Be Good, Little Puppy (2011) by Jerry Holkins & Mike Krahulik, B*
47. New Teen Titans: Games (2011) by Marv Wolfman & George Perez, A*
48. Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God From Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human (2011) by Grant Morrison, A-
49. Clients From Hell (2011) by Anonymous, B
50. Lisey’s Story (2006) by Stephen King, C
51. Locke and Key Vol. 2: Head Games (2010) by Joe Hill, A*
52. Locke and Key Vol. 3: Crown of Shadows (2010) by Joe Hill, A*
53. On Writing (2000) by Stephen King, A
54. Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psyco (1990), Stephen Rebello, B+
55. “Mile 81” (2011), Stephen King, B
56. The Stand (1990 unabridged edition), Stephen King, A+
57. The All-Pro (2011), Scott Sigler, A
58. Heaven (2011), Mur Lafferty, B+
59. Hell (2011), Mur Lafferty, B
60. Five Women Wearing the Same Dress (1993), by Alan Ball, B•
61. The Scribbler’s Guide to the Land of Myth (2008), Sarah Beach, A
62. The Gunslinger (2003 revised edition), Stephen King, B+
63. The Starter (2010) by Scott Sigler, A^
64. Who Goes There? (1938) by John W. Campbell, B+
65. The Drawing of the Three (1986), by Stephen King, B
66. “The Monster in My Closet” (2011), by Wil Wheaton, B+
67. Bill Shakespeare’s Next Big Mistake (2011) by Renee Harrell, B-•
68.  “The Fall of the House of Usher” (1839), by Edgar Allan Pe, B
69. The Waste Lands (1991), by Stephen King, A
70. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (1981), by Alvin Schwartz, B-
71. More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (1984), by Alvin Schwartz, B-
72. Wreck the Halls (2011) by Jen Yates, B+
73. 11/22/63 (2011), by Stephen King, A
74. The Son of Neptune (2011), by Rick Riordan, B
75. Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross (2003), by Chip Kidd, A
76. Batman: Noel (2011) by Lee Bermejo, B+*
77. Storm Front (2000) by Jim Butcher, B
78. The Adventures of Chrissie Claus Vol. 1 (2009), B*
79. A Christmas Story (2003) by Jean Shepherd, A
80. The Book of  (Holiday) Awesome (2011) , by Neil Pasricha, C+
81. The Great Gatsby (1924), F. Scott Fitzgerald, A
82. A Married Man’s Guide to Christmas (2011), by Robert Henry, B+
83. Batman: The Black Mirror (2011) by Scott Snyder, A*
84. Zombies Christmas Carol (2011) by Jim McCann, B+*
85. Walt Disney’s Christmas Classics (2009), B
86. Archie’s Classic Christmas Stories Vol. 1 (2002), B
87. “Nicholas Was…” (1989), by Neil Gaiman, A
88. Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King (2011) by Laura Geringer & William Joyce, B-

*-Denotes graphic novel or comic strip collection
•-Denotes stage play or screenplay
^-Denotes audiobook

Last updated on December 30, 2011.