Hello! English is my second language, and at the moment, unfortunately, I don't have anybody who can read my paper since both my parents are not fluent in English. And I'm probably living on the other side of the earth, since it is now ten thirty pm. Anyways, what I was trying to ask was this: do I need quotation marks or something like that for the names of the magazines? And should we underline the novel names? I can leave the name of the publishing companies right? Sorry if I bothered you again.. I tried to go over it though. Would you mind if I asked you to give me a letter grade for this biography?
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1809. His parents, David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe, were actors. His father abandoned the family and his mother died soon after, so Edgar was separated from his two siblings and he was adopted by John and Frances Allan of Virginia, a quite wealthy but childless couple. He first went to school at the age of six, while he was in England with the Allans. In 1826, he returned to the United States and attended the University of Virginia. However, he started to gamble and lost a lot of money. This caused discord between Poe and John Allan, and forced Poe to leave the university before finishing his studies. Unfortunately, Poe and his foster dad never again narrowed their rifts in spite of Frances Allan¡¯s death will.
In 1827, Poe made his first publication ¡®Tamerlane and Other Poems¡¯ in Boston. After suffering from poverty, he moved to Baltimore, Maryland to live with his aunt, his cousin Virginia Clemm, and his brother who died soon after Poe joined the family. He published ¡®Al Aaraaf Tamerlane and Minor Poems¡¯ and ¡®Poems, Second Edition¡¯ during this period. He also began to work on writing prose. Baltimore Saturday Visitor published his short stories and he soon won a prize for one of them called ¡®The Manuscript found in a Bottle¡¯. This gave him a job as the assistant editor of Southern Literary Messenger. He develops as a talented writer while working at there. He published ¡®The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym¡¯, his one and only novel, in 1838. He also worked for the Burton¡¯s Gentleman¡¯s Magazine, Graham¡¯s Magazine, Evening Mirror, and Godey¡¯s Lady¡¯s Book. While writing for these magazines, he compiled his short stories into a book called ¡®Tales of Grotesque and Arabesque.¡¯ He also wrote his first detective story, ¡®The Murders in Rue Morgue¡¯ and other horror tales such as ¡®The Tell-Tale Heart¡¯ followed. When he published his poem ¡®The Raven¡¯, it was definitely the climax of his life.
When his wife Virginia died from tuberculosis, his life gradually headed to its end as well. Poe started to drink heavily and lost hope in his life. He suffered from madness and depression. Some people think that he also took drugs. Poe even attempted suicidal. Many believe that he was found unconscious on a street of Baltimore on October 3, 1849 and died four days later. He might have died from alcoholism, diseases or he might have been murdered. He lived a rather tragic life and met a tragic death, yet he is remembered today as the creator of the horror genre and detective stories.
Thanks!!
2 answers
I've read your report and have given you some written feed back. I don't know how old you are or which year you are in but your use of a second language so skillfully is a delight. However I'm sure you really want to polish this so I offer the following.
I can't give you a grade because I don't know enough about your circumstances but in Australia if you wrote this well you could write reports at any level in secondary school and probably university too.
I don't claim to be an expert Jennifer but here goes. You don't need commas in the first and second sentences.
In the sentence beginning 'unfortunately' you shouldn't need a comma there either and perhaps 'father' would be better than 'dad'. It has a better tone and conjures up Victorian parental disapproval more readily. Why does' will' follow 'death'? It would be correct to say 'inspite of her death' perhaps. Poe cannot be said to have 'made' his first publications. Better to say in 1827 his first publications 'appeared'. No need to say 'after' suffering poverty. Just write 'Suffering from poverty he...' No need for a comma after Baltimore either. If you were listing two cities in Maryland you would put a comma after the first but not the second. You can give a single city name immediately followed by a state without needing a comma.
'He also began to write prose' is more direct and economical.
The 'Raven' was popbably the climax of his work but not necessarily his life. His life was obviously much bigger than his work.
No need to make diseases plural with an 's'. In this context just say disease and the fact that you haven't specified a particular disease implies the possibility of more than one disease.
good luck. sue
1 answer