BU - English 203 Approaches to Lit - S23

Edgar Allen Poe(4) Poe's Montresor  Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado", is a mirror that reflects the life that its author led. If read only for the surface details, it is a suspenseful narrative in which a disgruntled and possibly deranged Montresor lures an unsuspecting wine aficionado, Fortunato, to his demise in a catacomb, as retaliation for supposed insults. Fortunato is given several opportunities to escape with his life intact by Montresor, but the promise of another drink drives him forward. As he is already inebriated as he descends into the crypt, he is also blind to the increasingly suspicious atmosphere of the duo's surroundings. Upon reaching the scene of the imminent crime, Montresor exploits his drunkenness one final time, shackling him to the interior of a gap in the wall, which Montresor then covers by laying a wall of bricks over the space, burying Fortunato alive within the tomb (3).  Fortundo entombed beneath the catacombs...

Joyce Carol Oates Background      In 1966, Joyce Carol Oates published her award-winning short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” The inspiration for this story came from Charles Howard Schmid Jr, who had been responsible for the murder of multiple teenage girls in the early 1960s. Oates first read this case in a Life magazine article written by Don Moser. This article was titled, “The Pied Piper of Tucson: He Cruised in a Golden Car, Looking for the Action” (1). Charles Howard Scmid Jr.      Schmid was a small man, standing at just 5’3”. In an attempt to combat his insecurities, he would stuff his socks with rags in hopes to add a few inches. Although, just as Schmid's insecurities would grow, so would his madness. He blurted out “I want to kill a girl” while drinking alongside two of his future abettors (2). Charles Howard Scmid Jr.      His first victim would be Alleen Rowe, a fifteen-year-old high school sophomore. She...

     Joyce Carol Oates' 1966 short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" follows the story of the young Connie who is met with a tragic fate after a brief encounter with a strange man. The story sends chills down the spine of any reader, and righteously so. Despite an ambiguous ending, the reader is left with a frightening reminder of how often young women are targeted while embracing their transition into womanhood. To further enhance this fear, some readers would be shocked to learn that Oates' main inspiration for this story comes from the serial killer Charles Schmid - emphasizing how real Connie's situation can be. Charles Schmid      Oates first became familiar with the story of Charles Schmid through a Life  magazine article. She was fascinated by the details, but she did not read the entire article as to not soil her writing process (1). The article, titled "The Pied Piper of Tucson," describes Charles Schmid's persistent stalking...

Introduction "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most beloved and influential pieces of short fiction in the horror genre. It explores themes of revenge, betrayal, intoxication, and the self. The text is just as chilling as it is entertaining. Diving deeper into the life of its author, there is more to uncover as we analyze the story, brick by brick.  Edgar Allan Poe According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Poe's life leading up to the creation of "Cask" was fraught with tragedy, as his parents died young and he struggled to find his footing with his education at the University of Virginia and his subsequent career as a writer (1). He'd been dismissed from University for gambling and was fired from a job in Richmond for drinking, something he would struggle with his whole life. He became a widower in 1847. Poe's death at age 40 in Baltimore, Maryland is still somewhat of a mystery, with some suspecting drinking had a hand in his u...

 "Barbie-Q"s Barbies: "Solo in the Spotlight" (10)   "Red Flair" (11) Debuting March 9th, 1959 at the New York World's Fair, Mattel's infamous fashion icon Barbie soon appeared at the bottom of every young girl's Christmas list across America- to the woe of their concerned mothers. Considering her paradoxical status as both an icon of Americana and subject of feminine controversy, it makes perfect sense for Sandra Cisneros to choose Barbie as the object of focus in her piece "Barbie-Q". But what exactly did the world of Barbie look like in its' 1960s timeframe, and how did our culture react? Pictured above is the dolls owned by our two focal characters in Cisneros's work. Note that these images are reproductions, but accurate to the originals. Barbie in the 1960s: Creation and Cultural Perceptions: A young Ruth Handler showcasing her dolls (12)     It's first important to note that Barbie was, in fact, created by a woman: ...

Alcoholism's Influence on Edgar Allan Poe  Edgar Allan Poe's Dark History  Edgar Allan Poe is a known alcoholic, and it is not news that he had his fair share of mental health struggles. According to  Grunge.com's   " The Truth About Edgar Allan Poe's Struggles with Alcohol Addiction "  by Toby Arguello, he had struggled with alcohol addiction, and it cost him his job as editor of the  Southern Literary Messenger , a magazine he wrote for. As his addiction worsened, he was binging excessive amounts of alcohol to cope and started to struggle with anxiety following the death of his wife. Poe admitted to attempting suicide with the use of opium shortly after the loss of his wife and job. In one of Poe's personal letters between him and George W. Eveleth on January 4, 1848, he commented, as quoted in  eapoe.org , "During these fits of absolute unconsciousness I drank, God only knows how often or how much. As a matter of course, my enemi...

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