The Life and Work of Edgar Allan Poe Reading Answers

Jun 18, 2025

The Life and Work of Edgar Allan Poe Reading Answers is an academic reading answer topic. The Life and Work of Edgar Allan Poe Reading Answers has a total of 14 IELTS questions. In the first question set given, you have to state whether the statement is true, false, or not given with the information given in the text. In the next question set given, you have to fill the blanks with the correct option in no more than two words or a number each. In the last question set, choose TWO letters, A-E. Which TWO of the following are mentioned as being publications Poe worked for?

The IELTS Reading section is an essential part of the test that evaluates a candidate's comprehension and analysis of various passage types. You will work through a number of IELTS reading practice problems in this section that resemble actual test situations. These questions are designed to help you improve your ability to recognize essential concepts, extract particular facts, and make inferences. Practicing these IELTS reading problems can help you get comfortable with the structure and increase your confidence for the exam, regardless of whether you are studying for the Academic or General Training module.

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Section 1 THE LIFE AND WORK OF EDGAR ALLAN POE

Edgar Allan Poe, one of the first prominent American authors, is perhaps best known today for his contribution to the short story form as well as his most famous poem, The Raven. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1809, Poe was the second child of two professional actors. In the second year of his life, 1811, the young Poe, his older brother Henry and younger sister Rosalie, found themselves orphaned following the death of their mother from tuberculosis, the family having been abandoned by Poe's father a year earlier.

In 1811, Poe was adopted by the Allan family of Richmond, Virginia. Mainly as a result of financial pressures, Poe's relationship with Frances and John Allan, his foster parents, was often tense. After completing secondary school, Poe attended the University of Virginia in 1826 at the age of seventeen. Despite excelling academically, notably in French and Latin, Poe quit university before completing his first year, after falling out with John Allan over the cost of his education and debts that he had accrued. In 1827, Poe moved to Boston and enlisted in the United States Army using a false name, publishing an anonymous collection of poetry entitled Tamerlane and Other Poems in the same year.

After two years of military service, during which time Poe rose to the rank of Sergeant Major, he was granted a discharge to enter the United States Military Academy at West Point as a cadet and further his education. During this time Poe clashed again with his foster father regarding financial support for his studies, and it is said that the young writer deliberately broke rules and neglected his duties while at West Point so that he would be dismissed. In 1831, Poe was court-martialled for disobedience, afterwards moving to New York City for a brief period. He had resolved to devote himself to his writing on a full-time basis, publishing more poetry but having all of the short stories that he submitted to magazines rejected.

Towards the end of 1831, Poe left New York City and moved into the house of his aunt, Maria Clemm, in Baltimore, Maryland. He stayed in Baltimore for the best part of four years, writing and selling a number of both poems and short stories during this period. However, the young writer still struggled financially, in no small part as a result of the lack of international copyright laws at the time, meaning that the editors of literary magazines preferred to reprint British works rather than publish those of new American authors. One of the short stories that Poe wrote while living under his Aunt's roof, The Manuscript Found in a Bottle, won a magazine contest, helping him to secure a position as editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in 1835. As editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond, Virginia, Poe was instrumental in lifting the publication's readership, raising circulation from fewer than 1000 to 3500 copies. During this time, Poe established his reputation as a literary critic and began to focus on writing prose, rather than poetry. He quit the paper in 1836, however, citing the low salary and lack of editorial control as the primary reasons. In the same year, Poe married a woman many years his junior, before returning to New York in 1837. Over the following decade, the writer held a number of

editorial positions with various leading literary journals of the day in both New York and Philadelphia, including the Broadway Journal, Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and Graham's Magazine.

The year 1839 saw the publication of Poe's first volume of short stories, Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, although he received no payment for the work, and supplemented his income from editing jobs by giving lectures and public readings. Continuing to write in different forms throughout this period of his life and career, in 1841, the author published what is generally considered to be the first story in the genre of detective fiction, entitled The Murders in the Rue Morgue. The following year, Poe quit his editing job with Graham's Magazine, planning to start his own publication, Stylus. Unfortunately, this venture was not successful. Poe attained further literary recognition in 1843, however, winning first prize in a competition for his story The Gold Bug, a tale heavily influenced by his interest in cryptography.

In spite of winning one hundred dollars in prize money for The Gold Bug. Poe was still struggling to support his family financially. However, in 1845, the publication of his poem The Raven, arguably the author's single most widely recognised work, won him lasting fame. Poe became an almost overnight literary sensation in his home country, and The Raven played a significant role in securing his international reputation as a writer. The poem explores a number of the gothic themes common to Poe's writing, including those of love, beauty, death and loss. While he was now a household name in the country of his birth, Poe continued to have difficulty in making ends meet and was overcome by grief and sorrow following the death of his wife, Virginia, from tuberculosis in 1847. After the loss of his wife, it is said that Poe's behaviour became more erratic, and that his lifelong battle with depression worsened. He left the Bronx, in New York, where he and Virginia had been living and stayed in Rhode Island for a brief period, before returning to Richmond. The precise details surrounding Poe's death and his final days are a matter of considerable debate. It has been reported that the author left Richmond by train on September 27, 1849, supposedly with the intention of travelling to Philadelphia for an editing job. However, for reasons unknown, Poe ended up in Baltimore, where he was found in the street on October 3, semiconscious and in a state of delirium. He was taken to the Washington Medical College and died four days later, on October 7, 1849.

While he was alive, Edgar Allan Poe was most widely recognised in the country of his birth as a literary critic and editor. At the same time, he was known as both a fiction writer and poet, and one of the first nineteenth-century American authors to attain greater popularity in Europe than in the United States. Today, Poe is one of America's most enduring writers, as well as being among the first to become a major figure in world literature. He is considered to be the originator of gothic fiction, as well as being a contributor to the development of science fiction and the modern short Story form. The works of Edgar Allan Poe have inspired and influenced a host of other notable artists, writers and film directors, the likes of Salvador Dali, Charles Baudelaire and Alfred Hitchcock, to name but a few.

Questions 27-33

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

27. Poe's father died of tuberculosis.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: No information about the cause of Poe's father is given in the text.

28. Poe's first book of poems was published under a false name.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: publishing an anonymous collection of poetry entitled Tamerlane and Other Poems in the same year.

Keywords: anonymous, poetry

Keyword Location: Para 2, Line 7

Explanation: According to the text, Poe published his collection of poetry titled Tamerlane and Other Poems anonymously.

29. Poe moved to Maryland immediately following his dismissal from West Point.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: In 1831, Poe was court-martialled for disobedience, afterwards moving to New York City for a brief period.

Keywords: 1831, New York City

Keyword Location: Para 3, Lines 5-6

Explanation: According to the text, Poe was court-martialled for disobedience at West Point, after which he moved to the city of New York for a short time.

30. Graham's Magazine was a Philadelphia-based publication.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: No information is given about Graham Magazine being a Philadelphia-based publication.

31. Poe parted ways with Graham's Magazine in 1842.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: The following year, Poe quit his editing job with Graham's Magazine, planning to start his own publication, Stylus.

Keywords: editing job, Graham's

Keyword Location: Para 5, Line 5

Explanation: As mentioned in the text, Poe quit working as an editor for the Graham Magazine in the year 1842 and started his publication, Stylus.

32. Following publication of The Raven, Poe still struggled financially.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: Poe continued to have difficulty in making ends meet

Keywords: difficulty, meet

Keyword Location: Para 6, Lines 7-8

Explanation: According to the text, even after the widespread popularity of the raven, Poe's financial conditions didn't improve, and he had difficulty making ends meet.

33. During his lifetime, Poe was predominantly known as a poet in America.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: Edgar Allan Poe was most widely recognised in the country of his birth as a literary critic and editor.

Keywords: Edgar Allan Poe, literary critic

Keyword Location: Para 8, Lines 1-2

Explanation: As per the text, throughout his life, Edgar Allan Poe was greatly recognised as a literary critic and editor in his birth country.

Questions 34-38

Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS OR A NUMBER for each answer.

- Poe's sibling 34................. was the firstborn.

Answer: HENRY

Supporting statement: his older brother Henry and younger sister Rosalie,

Keywords: Henry, Rosalie

Keyword Location: Para 1, Lines 4-5

Explanation: Edgar Allan Poe had two siblings, his elder sibling being Henry and a younger sister named Rosalie.

- Poe left the Southern Literary Messenger because he had little autonomy and a poor 35...............

Answer: SALARY

Supporting statement: He quit the paper in 1836, however, citing the low salary and lack of editorial control as the primary reasons

Keywords: 1836, salary

Keyword Location: Para 4, Line 12

Explanation: The text states that Poe quit his job at the Southern Literary Messenger in 1836, due to the poor pay and little to no editorial control over the published work.

- Poe married in 36................ to a much younger woman.

Answer: 1836

Supporting statement Poe married a woman many years his junior,

Keywords: married, junior

Keyword Location: Para 4, Line 13

Explanation: In the year 1836, just when he had quit his job, Poe married a much younger woman before moving to New Year.

- Publication of 37............... helped Poe to become a household name in America.

Answer: THE RAVEN

Supporting statement: The Raven played a significant role in securing his international reputation as a writer.

Keywords: international, reputation

Keyword Location: Para 6, Line 5

Explanation: According to the text, the publication of the Raven made Poe a famous writer on an international level.

- As an author, Poe was a pioneering figure in the 38............... genre.

Answer: GOTHIC FICTION

Supporting statement: He is considered to be the originator of gothic fiction,

Keywords: originator, gothic

Keyword Location: Para 8, Lines 5-6

Explanation: The text claims that Edgar Allan Poe is credited with creating Gothic fiction and helping to shape science fiction and the current short story genre.

Questions 39-40 Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Which TWO of the following are mentioned as being publications Poe worked for?

A. The Gold Bug

B. Broadway Journal

C. Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque

D. Southern Literary Messenger

E. The Raven

Answer: B

Supporting statement: including the Broadway Journal, Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and Graham's Magazine.

Keywords: Broadway Journal, Magazine

Keyword Location: Para 4, Lines 15-16

Explanation: According to the text, Poe had worked in the Broadway Journal as an editor.

Answer: D

Supporting statement: helping him to secure a position as editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in 1835.

Keywords: editor, Southern

Keyword Location: Para 4, Line 8

Explanation: According to the text, Poe secured a job as editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in 1835 thanks to a magazine contest victory for The Manuscript Found in a Bottle, one of the short stories he wrote while staying under his aunt's roof.

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