Numerous writers have made great contributions to the broad-spectrum of literature. Samuel Langhorne Clemens, also known as Mark Twain, introduced Americans to life on the Mississippi. Thomas Hardy wrote on his pessimistic perspectives of the Victorian Age. Another author that influenced literature tremendously is Edgar Allan Poe. Best known as the father of the American short story and father of the detective story. Poe immersed reader into a world of imagination and horrendous ecstasy. "Poe was great in three different fields, and in each one he made a reputation that would give any man a high place in literary history. Poe wrote great short stories, famous not only in his own country, but all over the world (Robinson V)." "Hawthorne, Irving, Balzac, Bierce, Crane, Hemingway and other writers have given us memorable short stories; but none has produced so great a number of famous and unforgettable examples, so many tales that continue, despite changing standards to be read and reprinted again and again throughout the world (Targ VII)." "Poe was the father of the modern short story, and the modern detective story (Targ VII)." "With the possible exception of Guy de Maupassant, no other writer is so universally known and esteemed for so large of a corpus of excellent tales as in Edgar Allan Poe (Targ VII)."In 1831, Poe published a new collection of his poems entitled, Poems. Afterwards, he went to New York, but could find no work there. Eventually he took sanctuary with his aunt, Mrs. Clemm, in Baltimore. There he decided to find work and make a living by writing. Due to the lack attention and "critic appraise" with his poems, he decided to start writing short stories. Poe competed in a contest for the best short story in 1831. Because of his loss, Poe started on a motivated project. He decided to plan a series of stories told by members of a literary cluster. He found no publisher for his stories, and entered the conte...
