Phillis Wheatley and Edgar Allan Poe

Phillis Wheatley and Edgar Allan Poe In choosing two authors to write about and compare and contrast, I decide to choose Phillis Wheatley and Edgar Allan Poe. The reason for choosing the two is because they are both two authors that I have heard about before but, never really knew about them and their works. Wheatley and Poe are both writers both were around in different time period: Wheatley being from the 1700’s and Poe from the 1800’s had a big effect on what they choose to write about and why their works was different. Phillis Wheatley was born in Senegal in 1753. Around the age of eight, she was captured by slave traders and brought to America in 1761. She was later purchased by John Wheatley a gentleman from Boston. While being with the Wheatley’s family one of their daughter taught her how to read. Phillis Wheatley became very educated; she studied English, Latin and Greek. In 1767 she began writing poetry. When she was 18 she travelled to London. The Countess of Huntingdon helped her publish a collection of work; which was entitled Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (“Phillis”). Phillis Wheatley works mostly consisted of poetry expressing sorrow. Her Genres were Elegies and occasional verse. One of her major work was a patriotic poem entitled “To His Excellency General Washington” She died in 1784 in Boston Massachusetts. Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston Massachusetts in 1809. He was described as “One of the greatest and unhappiest of American poets, a master of the horror tale, and the detective story.” (“Edgar”)His Father died in 1810 and his mother a year later. Poe was taken in by a Richmond Merchant, John Allan Poe. Who lately this own him because of some gambling debt Poe had. In 1827 he joined the U.S. Army while station in Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina he wrote “The Gold Bug and “The Balloon Hoax” and other poems. Poe had a very interested life from marring his 13 year old cousin, struggle with drinking and drugs to