Edgar Allan Poe Isn't Always the "Bees Knees"

          I don't know of anyone that doesn't enjoy the thrilling and ghoulish stories from Edgar Allan Poe. They're suspenseful and enthralling which are important points to consider when trying to teach literature, and complex literature at that, to a young audience. As English Language Arts teachers, it is easy to get wrapped up in the excitement of the story and force that love of literature and all its elements on our students. However, I will discuss some downsides to teaching Poe to middle and high school students. It is important to keep in mind that I am not writing this with the intention to dissuade anyone from teaching Poe all together. My goal is for those that plan on teaching to be aware that there are limitations of Poe's text versatility, despite what we have been force fed over the years. 

          First, it is essential that we keep in mind of our audience. As exciting as many of us find the stories, there is a specific age group where teaching Poe's text is most effective. If you try to teach the literary aspects of the stories to too young of students then there is a strong possibility that you may lose their attention and drive for the story. Poe's diction is complex and difficult to understand for a lot of younger students (by younger, I mean middle school and possibly freshmen). As a former student who didn't have an expansive vocabulary at the time, I understand the struggle of having to look up a new word every other sentence just to try to understand what is going on in the plot. This doesn't even apply to the work I had to do to understand what is going on between the lines. I praise Poe's stories for being a challenge and it had made me a better student because of it, however it is important to keep in mind as a teacher that you need to give ample time to go over vocabulary and give an overview of the plot. 

          A final note I feel is worth mentioning is the versatility of Poe's text. Yes, they are engaging (if you do it correctly) and an easy go-to to teach components of a story such as diction, point of view, symbols, personification. But as it turns out, a lot of Poe's texts lack a moral or impactful themes that are worth using on an older audience (junior and seniors in my opinion). At this point in their education, the text would be best used as examples for other assignments such as a persuasive essay.

          Again, I want to say I am all on the Poe train! However, we as teachers often overlook the difficulties that students face if we do not tailor teaching curriculum for the correct age group and lessons. There are a lot of teaching material out there that makes learning 100 times more engaging for students because of the excitement in Edgar Allan Poe's text and to utilize that would show the actions of a resourceful teacher. Please, just keep in mind that not everyone is in love with English as we are.