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I found Poe’s description of creating The Raven in The Philosophy of Composition to be surprisingly entertaining. I thought it was interesting how he broke down the creative process, which is often placed on a pedestal, into something almost banal and routine. He almost describes it as creating a how-to manual. The format of the essay seeming more or less to instruct the reader was also interesting when considered with his emphasis on originality. It made me question if something (even a process) is copied by someone else, would it still be original? Furthermore, would his own stories be considered to have originality at the heart of them? As discussed in class, his short stories have several repeating elements, although each does have a certain amount of originality to it.
Overall I found it to be an interesting read, particularly after reading The Raven. I found it a refreshing break from the poets who describe their creative process as “sparked by the divine” or “unable to be contained”. Maybe that’s just because I spent the last semester reading poetry from the middle ages.
4 thoughts on “Composing The Raven”
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I agree with you here Kathleen- I thoroughly enjoyed this piece and the way it differed from much of what we’ve read so far. Your questions about originality are interesting. I do think, within the process Poe describes, that there is plenty of room for originality, and if anything I like the way it demystifies writing and encourages attempts at the process. Certainly when he talks about the first step, choosing an intended effect on the reader or message to deliver, there are endless possibilities for originality. Of course in the following steps, there are also countless ways to take a poem or story. While I of course recognize the inportance of originality in ideas, I am of the belief that nearly all art is to some degree built upon, appropriated from or otherwise influenced by or responding to something that came before it, and in many ways I think this is a beautiful thing which gives all artwork life and history.
Kathleen, I found your questions on originality very interesting. And I agree with both you and Kaitlin. I would just like to add what I thought about his own originality (in the context that he uses repeating, story-telling elements). I think that by looking at Poe’s writing as a whole, or the combination of all of Poe’s patterns, it is easy to see that Poe has created a lane of writing that is unique to him. Most of the short stories we read last class could be identified as Poe — even if his name was on it. I think this says something of his distinct style even though within his catalogue there might be some redundancy.