Knowing Poe
An invaluable companion to any classroom study of Edgar Allen Poe, this site from Maryland Public Television provides and extensive look the author's life, times, and work. You will find video selections exploring Poe's life throughout the site with clips of actor John Astin portraying Poe. The site also contains a wide selection of interactive features including a timeline that traces the intersection of events in American history and literature during Poe's lifetime, a tour of one of Poe's homes, a look at Baltimore during Poe's lifetime, an examination of what it was like to go to school during Poe's lifetime, In addition, you will find an analysis of Poe's works, primary source documents relating to his works, and online versions of some of his works.
Intended Audience: Students Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: Yes Searchable: Yes

Language Arts: Literature

  Curriculum Standard 4

Students will demonstrate competence in understanding, appreciating, interpreting, and critically analyzing classical and contemporary American and British literature as well as literary works translated into English.

Proficiency Standards
By the end of grade ten students will be able to:

• Demonstrate knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of literature from various cultures and times, written for a variety of purposes and in a variety of genres such as the classics and contemporary American, British, and world literature, and works by Pulitzer and Nobel prize winners.
• Understand that themes and events in literature often parallel real life.
• Analyze the ways that literature reflects the range of human experience.
• Analyze the ways readers and writers are influenced by personal, social, cultural, and historical contexts.

Social Studies: History

  Curriculum Standard 16

Students will demonstrate the ability to employ historical analysis, interpretation, and comprehension to make reasoned judgments and to gain an understanding, perspective, and appreciation of history and its uses in contemporary situations.

Proficiency Standards
By the end of grade six students will be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding that people, artifacts, and documents represent links to the past and that they are sources of data from which historical accounts are constructed.
  
  
• Examine historical documents, artifacts, and other materials and classify them as primary or secondary sources of historical data.
• Understand the significance of the past to themselves and to society.
• Display historical perspective by describing the past through the eyes and experiences of those who were there, as related through their memories, literature, diaries, letters, debates, arts, maps, and artifacts.

• Analyze historical documents, artifacts, and other materials for credibility, relevance, and point of view.
  
  
• Examine historical materials relating to a particular region, society, or theme; analyze change over time; and make logical inferences concerning cause and effect.
• Use historical materials to trace the development of an idea or trend across space or over a prolonged period of time in order to identify and explain patterns of historical continuity and change.
• Critically analyze historical materials in order to distinguish between the important and the inconsequential and differentiate among historical facts, opinions, and reasoned judgments.
• Perceive past events and issues as they were experienced by the people at the time to avoid viewing, analyzing, and evaluating the past only in terms of the present (present-mindedness).