Edgar Allan Poe in the Classroom

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” is a mysterious drama whose outcome will shock the reader greatly. The short story discusses ingenuity and analysis and the importance of creativity and thinking outside the box. Poe’s work is an invaluable tool in the classroom as an example of exciting classic literature. Many students are often intimidated by classic literature and use the excuse that it is boring, uninteresting, or too confusing for them to want to read. While it is true that classic literature has the tendency to be linguistically dense and advanced, it is anything but boring. Poe brings in mystery and action into his writing which has a tendency to attract readers, even those in high school.

I believe that any of Poe’s work could be used as a building block in the classroom. Some of his works are easier to grasp than others which makes the grade level of when appropriate to use his work vary slightly. Specifically, for “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” I would not bring this story to any classroom below 11^th grade. This is most only due to the density of the language used and the advanced reading skill set it takes to dissect such types of literature. This story would pair greatly in a unit about mystery as a classic example of a still popular genre of literature. This story could also be used when discussing good versus evil and human versus animal responsibility for one’s actions. There are a range of lessons ingrained into Poe’s works which can be utilized at various points and their allegorical meaning spans greatly, making it easy to include in a thematic lesson along with more contemporary pieces. Overall, I would suggest utilizing any Poe pieces one can in the classroom to introduce your student to classic literature in a way that would excite them rather than make them fall asleep.