Poe

Edgar Allan Poe had a very rough early life.  His mother died soon after his father abandoned them.  He was then taken in by John and Frances Allan, but they never formally adopted him.  He attended the University of Virginia for one semester, but dropped out after due to lack of money.  Poe then enlisted in the Army, but failed as an officer's cadet, and began his publishing career.  He originally published anonymously, crediting his works to "a Bostonian."  Poe switched his focus to prose and then began to write for various journals and periodicals.  Poe married Virginia Clemm, his 13 year-old cousin, published "The Raven" which was an instant success, but his wife died 2 years after its publication.  He was planning to start his own journal, The Penn, but died very mysteriously, in the streets of Baltimore, before it was produced.

I enjoy all of Poe's work very much.  His gothic and mysterious style provide interesting and different tones than what I am used to.  All of his works are fairly hard to understand, and require a lot of analytic thinking, but once that is done, the many interesting meanings become visible.  The deep thinking that is required and the mysterious tones of all of Poe's works are what makes them so intriguing to me.

What is an American?

Anyone from the continents of North or South America are technically "American", but the term "American" has become associated with citizens of the great country of the United States of America.  The country that above all else, "promotes" freedom and equality for all, and that is made of entirely of immigrants, who we now reject.  Every American is supposed to be given equal opportunity to have their own pursuit of happiness and to live out the American Dream.  The American Dream, the dream of becoming a business man, marry a beautiful wife, have two kids, and live in a house with a big backyard and a dog.  This however, is rarely achieved.  Nowadays, the stereotypical American is one that is fully immersed in the Western Culture.  Addicted to every sort of technology and TV show, constantly looking for ways to be more lazy, and completely self absorbed.  If one was to picture a typical American, they would think of an obese man, sitting on a couch, eating copious amounts of extremely unhealthy foods, and sitting in his own filth, while watching his favorite TV show.