Quote from Poe about the Balloon Hoax

In "The Beautiful Cigar Girl", the author briefly mentions The Balloon Hoax. He quoted Poe as having said: "I never witnessed more intense excitement to get possession of a newspaper. As soon as the first copies made their way into the streets, they were brought up, at almost any price, from the newsboys, who made a profitable speculation beyond doubt. I saw a half- dollar given, in one instance, for a single paper, and a shilling was a frequent price. I tried in vain during the whole day to get possession of a paper".

It seems to me as if Poe thought this to be a game, which backfired on him, because, according to "Cigar Girl", editors thought him to be untrustworthy after this story was published.

...a diddle would be no diddle without a grin.

I really liked how this satire on swindling was very easy to read and fun. I also liked that he explained about all "ingredients" of diddling in the beginning and then ended up giving us an example of each throughout the story. Even though it was fun to read, I found myself kind of at a loss for the point of the story. Was anyone else feeling this way? I kind of find myself getting bummed out at the end of some of his work because I enjoyed it all the way through-- but then it ends up being a story that doesn't even stick with me to want to bring up over dinner or anything. Am I missing something? Feel free to yell at me if you disagree! I liked reading it, I'll definitely stick to that, but is there more to it than that?

The woodcut "fake balloon"

This is the picture of the woodcut fake balloon that Poe wanted printed with his story in the news paper....(read the post below for more deatails).

The Balloon Hoax

I know so of you may be wondering why this story was called "The Balloon Hoax," I know I was until I remembered that the book that I read for my book review had a little blurb about it, so I thought I would share it with you: "Texts become increasingly removed from the form of thier original publication, and these removals affect interpretation. The appearance of the printed page, however, shapes the reader's understanding of the text it contains. "The Balloon Hoax" provides a useful example. In most modern editions of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, its text is uniform with the rest of the pieces in the collection. Each story appears in the same-sized type with identically spaced margins and the work among other short stories removes any doubt about its fictional nature. So does its title. Originally, it was not called "The Balloon Hoax." It only gained that title in the oral culture after its fictional status became known. Containing the word "hoax," the title lets readers know the story is undoubtedly a product of Poe's imagination. The story's first appearance in print was designed to make it closely resemble a factual account. Poe convinced Moses Y. Beach, editor of the New York Sun, to publish it as part of an Extra Sun. In terms of format, the story looked similar to any of the day's newpaper articles. It had a dateline as well as a multi-part headline characteristic of urgent news with bold-faced capitals, bold italics, and exclamation marks. The story was set in multiple columns, and the paper included other items, as any paper would. It also contained a woodcut illustration of the model balloon on which the full-scale one purportedly was based. The woodcut image made the technology Poe described more tangible and added further credence. When it first appeared, the hoax was a success, and many people accepted it as truth until they heard reports to the contrary." So now that you know... why do you think Poe went through so much trouble to make it look so truthful? I think maybe it was to become more noteably recognized as a writer maybe??? Anyways I hope this was all new to you guys!

racist poe?

Was anyone else bothered at Poe's depiction of Jupiter in "The Gold Bug"? Jupiter was very loyal to his "Massa Will" but in return, was portrayed as a superstitious, unintelligent idiot (his speech was difficult to understand and he did not know his left from right). Is this Poe's view? Before reading this story, I still questioned whether Poe was a racist or not, but now I am almost sure he was. Anyone else agree?

A few of my words on "A Few Words on Secret Writing"

When I read "A Few More Words on Secret Writing" it made me think that there really is no such thing as "secret" writing. Poe seems to think that there will always be someone who will be able to figure out a cipher. Also, Poe points out that the key to solving these ciphers "is found in the general principles of the formation of language itself, and thus is altogether independent of the particular laws which govern any cipher, or the construction of its key." It seems that if the solution is in "the formation of language," then we all have the ability to solve a cipher. While he does point out that "to those skilled in deciphering" these puzzles are easy to solve, it seems like it is possible for anyone to possess these skills.

Poe reiterates this idea at the end when he says that if you want to find "rules for the solution of cipher," we will be disappointed: "Beyond some hints in regard to the general structure of language...he will find nothing upon record which he does not in his own intellect possess." Some may argue that Poe's work is cryptic, but if we look to the "formation of language" as he suggests, then we may able to decipher what he is trying to say. As Poe points out in this essay, the "difficulty of reading a crytographical puzzle is by no means always in accordance with the labor or ingenuity with which it has been constructed." We are not aware of how the puzzle or its key was constructed, so that is not where the difficulty in solving it lies.

A Few More Words About Secret Writing

OK so I liked the essay on secret writing, it cleared some things up for me. I liked that he says that no human can produce a cipher that cannot be solved by another human, but also acknowledges that not all of us think on that level, I think he was talking about me in that statement! I can't focus on those kinds of things long. However, I did have a notebook with my best friend in middle school in which we would write in code language so that our parents wouldn't know what we were talking about (not that we were talking about bad things just boys and who we didn't like that week and other stuff). I guess we just thought it was cool. Poe brings out a new/old reason for secret writing which is for the communication between two individuals that are trying to literally keep things secret. I wish he would have given more examples as to when people would have used these ciphers, like what would be said in them and so on. "It is not to be supposed that Cryptography, as a serious thing, as the means of imparting important information, has gone out of use at the present day. It is still commonly practised in diplomacy; and there are individuals, even now, holding office in the eye of various foreign governments, whose real business is that of deciphering. We have already said that a peculiar mental action is called into play in the solution of cryptographical problems, at least in those of the higher order. Good cryptographists are rare indeed; and thus their services, although seldom required, are necessarily well requited." I like that he associates intelligence with being about to crack the codes here in this quote. He also addresses that there are not many who can accomplish the complex ones. I am thinking again about the National Treasure movies becuase Nicholas Cage is beast at solving those ciphers. I was basically jsut wondering if there are any instances in which codes and ciphers are still used today. I can't think of any along the lines of what Poe was describing, the only ones I can think of are ones just for fun like puzzles in the news paper and puzzle books people do on vacation.

Cultural fun!

For my cultural appropriation, I did Music and Poe. The television medium portrays Poe as poor, sickly and deranged. But what about musicians who are inspired by Poe? I will be discussing CreatureFeature's take on Poe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b704tlVZqs

" Time out of mind"

Today, I was reading "The Gold Bug" and I came upon the sentence:

You are well aware that chemical preparations exist, and have existed time out of mind, by means of which it is possible to write on either paper or vellum, so that the characters shall become visible only when subjected to the action of fire. (584)

I was shocked to read this and almost jumped out of my chair. You see a few years ago, I wrote a poem using the phrase "time out of mind" and a teacher who did not like me ( not at this school) came over and snickered to me "you stole that from TS Eliot. As she walked away I thought, no I didn't I stole it from Dylan. When I told this to another English teacher she said no Poe used it first in Fall of the House of Usher." Later when I read William Wilson, I saw that Poe also used this very phrase in that story also.

So Today when I read the above quoted passage I went running to google and I found that Poe used it in at least 7 different stories and poems, including:"Devil in the Belfry," "Fall of the House of Usher," " Morning on the Wissachccan,"" Erueka, "" Mellonta Tauta,"" William Wilson,"" Gold Bug," and "Notes to Hans Pfaal. "

So my question is- did I actually steal it from Dylan, who stole it from Eliot, who stole it from Poe who stole it from himself, again, or by using it as much as he did, did Poe actually make it a common phrase thereby giving it to any and all who chose to use it? I also thought that maybe by using it as much as he did, the phrase could actually be seen as a signature phrase to be used solely by Poe thereby showing that anyone who uses this phrase is actually referring to the fact that they have read Poe.

I want to know what you all think on this- is it ever ok to used a phrase- any phrase , your own or someone else's, and if it is, then when?

Cultural Appropriation

HeyHey,

In class I will be doing my cultural Poe presentation on representations of Poe in children's media, especially cartoons. As soon as I figure how to post the videos into the blog I will do so that way you all can watch more than what I will be showing in class. Hope you all enjoy!!

even or odd

The character Dupin and his supernatural abilities are nicely exhibited in 'the purloined letter.' with the contrasting paris police working opposite, we see the height of these extraordinary abilities. his reference to the child's game, 'even and odd' shows how his state of mind and the police's differ. Dupin has this cognitive psychological perception where rationality isnt always going to take you toward the answer fastest.
Poe interjects also this issue of mathematics vs poetry. Where the prefect sees a poet as a fool, Dupin, one who has been 'guity' of taking personal interest in poetry, does not make the prefect's mistake. because the prefect judges Minister D's intellect, he assumes that D would hide it like any normal person (like himself) would-- merely hidden in a minuscule spot in the apartment. already he has eliminated the option that it could have been so obvious as on the desk.
poe writes: "The mathematics are the science of form and quantity; mathematical reasoning is merely logic applied to observation upon form and quantity...Mathematical axioms are not axioms of general truth. What is true of relation--of form and quantity--is often grossly false in regard to morals, for example."

I think this is a nice example, like sonnet--to science, of an acknowledgment for the logical mind, though perhaps poe finds it completely useless to 'general truth' without moral, emotional, and certainly the INTUITION, which not surprisingly, poe often seems to hold very close throughout his writings. thoughts?

Truth in Journalism?

In both stories, Rue Morgue and Marie Roget, I feel Poe was trying to make a criticism on the media, the first tabloids. The papers never got it completely right. It is again an argument on truth. Especially in Marie Roget. The various newspapers had all the clues but they didn't release them in any way that made sense of the matter. They made their own assumptions without any facts to back it up. People trust newspapers and they have abused their power to sell their own agenda. As an editor of various newspapers do you think there is an argument against this type of journalism? The term yellow journalism didn't actually get penned until almost the end of the 19th century. Do you think Poe was trying to destroy it before it even began?

In the Murders in the Rue Morgue I found it interesting that Dupin was able to overcome all of the violence by using his brain to solve the crime. The orangutan's master habitually used violence to control the animals actions which caused the horrible murders to take place. I found it interesting that Poe took this approach using an animal as the murderer instead of a person. Besides this story being more about the investigators than the victims and the process of solving the crime, it is an entirely different approach than we have seen Poe take. I'm not sure what, if anything, he's trying to say by comparing these two types of power (brain vs. physical strength) so feel free to chime in with your thoughts, but it seems that since Poe is experiencing the first police forces and the media was covering stories in a gruesome way, he is commenting on the approach they are taking as being too violent and not using their heads when they should. This would go along with a part that is mentioned in the text about someone looking at an object too close and only seeing a few parts really well but in the end they lose sight of the whole. By using a character like Dupin who takes a different approach to problems and really gives everything, no matter how insignificant it may seem, his utmost attention and is able to store it in his mind.

More Dead Women

I just had a couple of question about "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." I was wondering if anyone else thought that the victims could have easily been changed to the male gender? This was actually the first time I had ever read this tale, and I found it quite different from those that we have read before in class with women dying. I thought it strange that the women weren't really described as much as I would have liked, or I guess as much as I thought they would be. I think my expectations were more along the lines of a sickly beautiful woman dying. It was refreshing not to have to read another of those and see Poe venture out into a detective scene and not spend to much of his energy on the description of the women that were murdered. I liked that they were described in a fashion that left room for the reader to picture what happened (another of Poe's wonderful sensationalist readings). I think that because Poe didn't spend ample time describing how beautiful and lovely the women were they could have easily been men in this case. I think it would have been harder to accept that a monkey killed two men in the apartment but I think you catch my drift. Another thing I liked about this tale is that it is not really even about the murders, its about how they are solved and the relationship between the narrator and Dupin. It kind of reminded me of modern day CSI shows (which I am guilty of watching) where the story is not truly about the person that has been killed it is about the people sloving the crime and the drama in their lives and how the murder challenges them to become a changed person at the end of the episode. Any thoughts?

Cultural Appropriation

For my cultural appropriation, I will show parts of a 1995 t.v. version of "The Cask of Amontillado." I will focus on the costume choices of Montessor and Fortunado, as well as which actions are narrated vs. which are not in the t.v. version.

Hauntings

Hello all,

I hope you don't mind if I post on a old story, Pym. I know, that when we read it, I said that it was boring and that I didn't like it. But it haunts me.

I had this dream last night about roses and when I woke up I realized that I was thinking of Parker- the hybrid- the only surviver of the Pym story.

I've been thinking all day about this word - hybrid- not half breed, or mulatto or any of the other ugly terms for people of mixed races but hybrid.

So I asked my self what Poe was trying to convey by using that word in particular. Poe the racist that is, and I came away changing my mind about dear old Poe.

You see hybrid roses are the ones that we all know today. The old fashioned ones were puny and didn't smell very good. But today's hybrid roses smell wonderful and are strong. The old ones got root rot and died out.

Parker the hybrid survived. While Augustus got root rot.

So I guess I have changed my mind about this story after all. As boring as it was to read, it haunts me.

Medicinal Poe

So I have realized that I have made myself the resident medical guru of the class--which was totally unintentional but well, it's what I know. Ergo, you guys get to read a medical post. Kind of. This concerns Poe's A Tale of the Ragged Mountain. I basically found it slightly strange that the main character was not only given morphine to take for pain (I am used to this being administered in hospitals under strict supervision--though I realize that this is now and more than likely during the then, morphine was not as strictly supervised). What really struck me was that he was able to leave the house and wander into the woods while basically high off of it. From someone who has had surgeries and required the medicine, I can attest that it is extremely difficult to think let alone move when on morphine. But, this is a story and such things are allowed to happen. Besides, he could have always been taking a low doseage--who knows. What concerned me was his adventures on the mountain. I want to know if describing what it is like to be high off of morphine is what Poe wanted the reader to experience--and if so, did Poe ever have to take the drug in his lifetime? I know he was an alcoholic but never heard anthing about him using drugs like morphine--maybe I am putting my foot in my mouth with this post but the entire time reading Agustus' adventure made me wonder--how could Poe know what it would feel like to be on morphine? I guess my main question is what was Poe's goal with this story because I'm at a loss. Then again, I could have simply gotten lost in my own little world of medicine and missed the entire story. Like I said, this blog could result in me opening my mouth and inserting my foot during class tomorrow should we discuss this but, I felt the need to blog it any how. Thanks for reading my lil ramble guys!

Back to Pym We Go...

Hi, everyone.
I have something really cool to share now that I'm back, in addition to my book review, which is also being done tomorrow. The theme of it is, 'Poe, Race, and Arthur Gordon Pym.'

Again, I wanted to talk about and compare/contrast "Descent into the Maelstrom' with Pym. How does Descent work or not work in the context of what we have been reading regarding Poe so far? Would one consider Pym to be a failure, Descent a success, and why? It is simply because its shorter and we're able to tolerate it more? How does this fit or not fit into the Poe canon? Would YOU put it in the Poe canon--why or why not?

Corinne's Cultural Appropriation

On Thursday I will be presenting my cultural appropriation on the Classics Illustrated adaptation of "The Pit and the Pendulum." I thought I had planned it right so that it would actually be the reading for this day. I hope that most of you have read it in the past, but if not that's okay too! I will basically be talking about how the media form of the graphic novel/comic book imapacted the scenes and stories as opposed to how I pictured them when I was reading. I will also talk a little bit about the colors used in the strip, as well as what Classics Illustrated's goal was by publishing the strip. I will also have a little bit of history of Classics Illustrated to share. I have posted a couple of pictures just to give you a preview of what you will see!

Truth in The Man That Was Used Up

I wanted to bring up the topic of truth. I know we’ve talked about this in class already with other stories such as The Tell-Tale Heart and Pym, which I think is why I’ve been closely looking for this idea to pop up in Poe’s stories. In The Man That Was Used Up I found this theme throughout the entire text. In the first paragraph I got the feeling that the narrator was unsure of what was happening when he met the General. Poe says:

“I cannot just now remember when or where I first made the acquaintance of that truly fine-looking fellow… Some one did introduce me to the gentleman, I am sure - at some public meeting, I know very well - held about something of great importance, no doubt - at some place or other, I feel convinced, - whose name I have unaccountably forgotten.”

I read this and was curious about the reliability of the narrator. Not until a little further into the text did I understand that the mystery of this man Brevet Brigadier General John A. B. C. Smith (did anyone else find this name excessive??), captured the narrator and perhaps made all other detail of that night superfluous. Going through the story when everyone was telling the narrator about the General, I was getting frustrated, as others have mentioned, about the repetitiveness of their comments. They wouldn’t answer a question but they would continue to repeat whatever it was they had heard. I assumed that no one had ever really met the guy or maybe they would have disclosed his secret. This made me more interested in him and what would be revealed at the end. The ending was very interesting, not really what I expected, but again, a little on the questionable side. At this time could one really have all the bodily attachments he did and still be alive??

Raquel posted that she thought it may be saying something about colonialism and I didn’t see this when I was reading, but I really like that answer. Surely Poe was making a comment about a situation that requires one to give in order to get. But this is a bit much, don’t you think? Would you be willing to make the sacrifices that the General did? And how do you think he (the General) really feels at the end of all this? I guess in order to progress as a people someone has to make the sacrifice but I wonder if it's really a choice that they would make for themself if the pressure wasn't there.

Age of Invention

One thing that I was wondering as I read was WHY did each person that the narrator spoke to talk about it being such a wonderful age of invention that they live in? Poe starts with the General himself telling the narrator "we are a wonderful people, and live in a wonderful age." Then he goes on to list what exactly makes this such a wonderful age and all the technology of the time. Basically the different inventions. Then the other characters later actually use the word "inventive" to describe the time period they are in but why mention that when they are being asked about the General and not the age they live in? Is it because inventions and this new age helped the General survive the battles against the Bugaboos and Kickapoos? Or is it because they know the General's secret of his mechanical body parts (and obviously that is a new invention) so they are hinting to the narrator about this? No one ever seems to answer the narrator in a straightforward fashion about the General and they all have similar yet almost disjointed comments. But one thing that most of them did seem to definitely mention was this wonderfully inventive age. Yet I don't see the reason for it except what I tried to guess at.

Descent as Pym Lite?!

Hi, everyone!
I will miss you tomorrow...I'm going to be Charlottesville visiting my cousin.

In any case, I wanted to wonder if anyone saw what I did in "Descent into the Maelstrom." It was as if Poe said, "Okay...Pym didn't work out the way I wanted it to, so I'll do something similar only make it more tolerable." It made me think, 'This is Pym Lite!' I honestly enjoyed it.

I also enjoyed Mountains. You really see the more personal, 'I know what I am talking about here...' Poe.

THE MAN THAT WAS USED UP

Is it me or is Poe completely enthralled by teeth? He went on and on over the perfection of Brevet Brigadier General John A.B.C. The pace of the story was a lot refreshing after Pym, I really wanted to know what the narrator was trying to find out. Yet, I was becoming quite frustrated with the repetition of the “history” of the man, which was never told! How is it that everyone he cornered about the General had the exact same thing to say? Then I had to wonder, did they know the truth and if they did, where was the narrator that he did not know the story, since he was awed by the man when he met him? Poe presented a man that was so physically perfect that it caused instant doubt as to the reliability of the narrator. How is it that he was able to “give the beggarly scoundrel such a thrashing as he will remember to the day of his death”, but couldn’t obtain the truth of the General? Maybe I am naïve, but I was shocked that the General was only a partial man, physically, was anyone else? Also, I have to wonder what statement Poe was actually making. The General had lost just about everything; his eye, teeth, palate, arm, leg, shoulder, was Poe simply telling a story? Or was he asking if colonialism was worth the cost that had to be paid by the people who actually did the colonizing? The Brevet Brigadier General, fought a battle with the Kick-a-poos and the Bugaboos. It had to have been common knowledge, so why didn’t the narrator know? Was he easily distracted, or did he ignore the “world” events as they were happening and so become ignorant of events, historical or otherwise?

Double Take: William Wilson

Okay I will break the ice here. It's Monday evening and no one has posted on William Wilson! I was kind of waiting to post about this one to see if anyone had any brillian comments about it, as I know you are all geniuses, and I was hoping to gain some insight from your thoughts. This did not happen so I am going to shoot in the dark and ask a few questions about this tale. Please help!
If the narrator was so tormented by this "William Wilson" then why did it take so long for him to do anything about it?
If they were the same person, then how did the butler guy announce to the narrator that he had a guest the night that he was drinking wine? Did he just imagine that? Was he truely alone the whole time and bouncing from looney bin to looney bin in different countries?
What do you make of the competitiveness of the narrator and how does it contribute to his split personality? I think that it makes him more able to keep this other personality because he feels like nothing he does is good enough and the other personality sustains this feeling for him.
Were you surprised at the ending to find out they are the same person? I wasn't! If the story was shorter I might have been a bit more surprised but by the ending I kind of saw it comming, but that didn't take away from the story for me. How about you?

Again, I liked the descriptions and sensations that the tale included, that seems to be a theme from across the board this week. I also really liked the last couple of pages the most of all, they just seemed to invoke so much feeling, which I think aided in the stabbing scene!

The Man of the Crowd vs. The Man Watching the Crowd

I noticed two significant things about this tale: 1) It seems to appeal to the visual culture again like some of the other Poe works. The images are not direct that the narrator is giving, but the reader can still imagin them. For instance he doesn't give eye color and hair color he gives types of clothes and demeanors of people, because it is what he can see from the window. While the narrator was standing in his room looking upon the crowd and giving descriptions of everyone, I could close my eyes and see what he was describing. I think that the careful choice of words and the calculations of the sentences make this tale force the reader to follow what the narrator does. I liked the descriptions and the images that the narrator was sharing with us. 2) At the end of the tale the narrator says, "This old man," I said at length, "is the type and the genius of deep crime. He refuses to be alone. He is the man of the crowd."(396) I think that in the way that the man of the crowd is described by the narrator, the narrator can identify with the man of the crowd. In a way the narrator could be a genius of crime seeing that he had followed this man around and wasn't even noticed. He also watches the crowd and knows everything about the way it moves, thinks and functions, therefore making him a genius of how to affect it. He also says that the man refuses to be alone, and I think that the narrator does to. He may stay in his room a lot and watch the crowd, but without that crowd he would probably go insane. It is like he lives for watching the crowd and studying how it works. In a sense, yes he is alone and confined, but he is only alone by distance and location, not by the people he associates with.

What do you think Poe was trying to achieve with his wonderful descriptions? I just loved them!