Pondering Poe’s Poetry

Freshman finds interest in uncle’s bookcase

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The suspenseful ways of his writing attracts her in many directions. She’s read about 16-17 of his books during the summer, and started reading when she was just 7-years-old.

“I like reading his books because of the suspense. You can feel the emotion of the story or topic and sometimes I can just relate to the stories,” Cassidy said.

 

Cassidy Shenberger, freshman, became bored one day at her uncle’s house for the summer. She found his bookcase full of Edgar Allen Poe’s twisted stories and began to read. The Raven was the very first book that she read of Poe’s.

 

“At the time, I read in my bed, or sprawled out on the floor with all the blankets around me,” Cassidy said.

 

 

Cassidy spends most of her time reading his books, or making illustrations of what he can put in his stories. The most recent picture she has drawn was the raven and wife with a creepy background. This illustration represented The Raven. Now at age 14, she reads and illustrates in her closet for the silence.

 

“It feels like it’s sound proof.” Cassidy said,“ I like it when it’s dark, but just enough light to see the words. Living with a family of seven makes silence rare for me. It’s my chance to escape a tiring day,” She said.

 

Her favorite book written by Poe is The Raven. She can relate to this book because she lost her grandma, kind of like how a character lost his wife in the story.

 

“I’ve read it about 10-12 times and the book is basically falling apart,” Cassidy said.

 

Her least favorite book of Poe’s is The Tale of Tell Hearts.

 

“Sometimes his writing is easy to understand. Sometimes not. It just depends on what you are reading. You have to read between the lines to figure out what he is wanting you to know,” She said.

 

Cassidy has been reading his books for years. Some of his stuff is still not clear to her, but she continues to push on a read.

 

“If someone were to ask me if Poe’s books are good, or wanted to start reading them, I would tell them that his books are good,” Cassidy said. “The suspense keeps you going and thinking, especially with his style of writing. He has a wide range of vocabulary. Basically it’s great if you can understand his writing. Not everyone can. Sometimes I can’t understand his books at all and I have been reading his books for seven years now.”