The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe

Obviously, Poe is using very convincing appeals if he can convince the reader his poem is from the heart when he really used a formulaic process. The purpose of Poe's piece was to create a poem that would be well recieved by both "the popular and the critical taste" (Poe 164). His audience than, we can assume, is anyone who picks up his piece to read. Poe sets himself the difficult task to appeal to any reader. Poe follows his idea that emotion should be implied rather than said outright which worked well for the Pathos argument. It is haunting when the narrator asuures himself the sound outside his door is only "some late night visitor" (Poe 3;6). He seems to be trying to keep himself from thinking about Lenore and the possibility it is her. The point when the narrator opens the door to find "darkness" instead of Lenore which means "light" a feeling of dissapointment or sadness is triggered in the reader (Poe 4;6). It is grim to think in a poem filled with such darkness the narrator can never find light as light is gone forever. Poe also has a good Ethos argument. He may say his poetic process does not involve much emotion, but his tone of mourning and darkness could only come from someone who has seen such things before. For example, when the narrator questions the raven he already knows the depressing answers he will recieve. Poe describes this as the narrator expressing "the human thirst for self-torture" (Poe 171). If Poe had never felt this thirst before, how would he have written about it so in depth? Poe's knowledge of such experiences makes him a reliable and trustworthy narrator. The reader knows he has felt and dealt with difficult situations before; his ideas do not come from out of nowhere. He also says he has read "forgotten Lore" which is, perhaps, a reference to the Greek mythology he references. Being so learned in classical literature makes him seem a knowledgable writer and trustworthy narrator. He talks of how the raven perches on the "bust of Pallas"(Poe 6;5). The Raven is a symbol not only of death, but of intelligence and so is Pallas Athena's (I am guessing its her not Pallas daughter of Triton???) animal the owl. However it is a raven in this poem not an owl. The raven perched on the bust than suggests a twisted reality which correspond to the tone of the poem.