I have a project due by 8:00 am on tuesday, feb 19th. I need quick but thourough help on Edgar Allah Poe's "The Purloined Letter". I need a quick summary as well as a psycholgical point of view the story itself. I need specific details from the story. We are studying critical stategies for reading and we have to know the psychological strategies of Poe's "The Purloined Letter". I need help fast. Please Help!!!!!

-- Anonymous, February 19, 2002

Answers

Quite simply, Poe's detective, Auguste Dupin, finds a stolen letter that is impossible to find by the through, predictable police methods beceause it is hidden in "plain sight". Most of the story is a philosophical examination of the method od solving a mystery or perceiving reality. Namely that a poet who thinks outside the box is superior to painstakingly thorough logical and time proven professional policework. The watson like companion of Dupin is the foil for the discussion and like Holmes Dupin really rubs it in and takes a big fee for teaching the lesson. So Poe toys with us in suspense as we move from point A(the stolen letter must be in the apartment) to point B using process of elimination, deduction, intuition and analysis. www.eapoe.org has the story and an article on the philosophy used in the story. Not as good as the Gold Bug or Rue Morgue because abstract preachy process overwhelms the story which is as plain and static as that invisible letter.

-- Anonymous, February 20, 2002