Frederick Douglass and Edgar Allan Poe.docx - Frederick...

Frederick Douglass and Edgar Allan Poe
Introduction
Edgar Allen Poe is a well talented man whose talent was discovered when he was young.
Edgar Allan Poe was one of the ancient prominent and influential American writer in 19 th
century. He became the first writer who tried to implement a professional living as an author.
Most of Poe’s literary work was highly influenced by the experiences and events that surrounded
him. On top of being a writer, Poe was also an editor and literary critic. He is broadly associated
with poetry and short stories, specifically his mastery tales and the macabre. Allan Poe is a
common and central romanticism figure in the United States as well as of American literature
(Poe, 2014). According to Douglass (2018), Frederick Douglass was born into slavery around
1818 or early 20
th
Century. He was an escaped slave who later emerged to be a prominent and
important social activist, author and public speaker. Frederick Douglas became a leader of civil
rights abolitionist movement that focused on ending slavery practices in America before, during
and after Civil War. Even after the end of the conflict and the Proclamation of Emancipation in
1862, Douglas continued to agitate for social equality and human rights. Frederick Douglass
played a crucial role in securing the abolition of slavery and equality of African-American rights
through his actions, ideas, and efforts as a lecturer, author/publisher, and politician. Edgar Allan
Poe Poe's work as an editor, a poet, and a critic had a profound impact on American and
international literature. His stories mark him as one of the originators of both horror and
detective fiction.
Douglas as a Lecturer, Poe as a Modern Story Pioneer

Douglas was a lecturer, a public speaker, an American social reformer, statesman, an
abolitionist and orator while Edgar Poe was an architect of the modern short story, poetry
especially tales of mystery and the macabre. Douglas has history as a slave since he was born to
slave parents around 1818 in Talbot County, Maryland. However, Douglas didn’t know exactly
when he was born. After separation from his mother as an infant, Douglas was brought up by his
maternal grandmother. However, upon reaching six years, he was enslaved to live and work on
the Wye House Plantation located in Maryland. Here, Douglas was assigned duty to Lucretia
Auld, whose husband, Thomas shipped him to be a slave in his brother Hugh in Baltimore.
Sophia, Hugh’s wife began to introduce Douglas to education by teaching him alphabet. After
that, Douglas taught himself how to write and read. Later, Douglas started to teach other slaves
how to read and write through the help of the Bible (Douglass, 2018).