Could it mean that by the raven perching there, this is symbolic of the raven claiming the main character’s sanity while he is in the throes of descension to insanity through his depression and despair? Is the raven a symbol of trying to talk some wisdom and rationale to the main character?

Apologies for the lengthy description. 2000 words total. 500 word critical introduction with strong thesis statement followed by 5 annotations (each 300 words) I am to analyze and interpret Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” (1845) from a psychological perspective. I first read this poem in high school and was captivated by its themes of grief, loss, despair, sorrow and the supernatural, but would like to dive deeper and research the symbolism and deeper psychological meaning. This is an annotated project. I am required to have at least five annotations. I would like to compare psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s “five stages of grief” (Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance) and annotate which parts of the poem fit with each stage. I also wanted to annotate The symbolism of the Raven, “the pallid bust of Pallas, “the Night’s Plutonian Shore, “saintly days of Yore”, wisdom, memory and thought. This deep dive into “The Raven” is worthwhile because coping with death and loss is a universal human experience across cultures and time. As a psychology student, analyzing the mindset and mourning process expressed in the poem will provide insight for both literary analysis and real-world application. I need to have a 500 word critical introduction, followed by 5 annotations (300 words each) with secondary sources cited in-text, and bibliography at the end. Through ominous symbolism and desperate melancholy, Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” vividly encapsulates the torment of inconsolable grief and the struggle with suicidal ideation in a haunted, shadowy world – could be one direction for a thesis, but I was thinking more along the lines of that state of mind coming of the narrator coming to realize that he will never be able to forget the person he has lost that he loved so deeply, those memories will always be there, but with thought and wisdom, he comes to the stage of acceptance that the memories will always be there to creep up from time and cause sorrow but he knows with time it will get better. In Norse Mythology, Odin had two ravens by the names Huginn and Muninn – “thought and memory”. The bust of Pallas in the poem is of Pallas Athena from Greek mythology symbolizing wisdom. “the night’s Plutonian shore” symbolizes the underworld… Wikipedia is a great source to get quick references on symbolism throughout the poem – “Nepenthe” – was a drug mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey to erase memories, “Balm of Gilead” – a reference to the book of Jeremiah (8:22) in the bible (suggests the narrator needs to be healed after the loss of Lenore). Elijah is said to be from Giead, and to have been fed by ravens during the drought. Mention “Aidenn”, which is in Poe’s poem, which refers to the Garden of Eden — narrator uses it in the sense of PAradise to ask if he shall reunite with his lost Lenore in Heaven. <– these were from Wikipeida, great starting place, I will provide more sources as well, especially relating to the psychoanalysis of this poem.

We are required to cite our primary source, the poem itself, which I will include here, as well as all other secondary sources, which can be anything from scholarly journal articles, books, interviews or anything else from youtube, as long as we give credit to where we got our information from. APA style. Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” is a poem about a man who is grieving the loss of his love “Lenore”. It begins with the main character reading books on a dark December night to distract himself from the memories and anguish he feels while mourning his lost love. Out of nowhere and unexpectedly, he hears a tapping or knocking on the door to his room. He gets up and finds no one there. He hears a tapping/knocking sound again, but this time it seems to be coming from his window. Walking over to the window, he tells himself that it is only the wind, “and nothing more”. As he opens the window, a raven flies in and perches on top of a bust of Pallas above the door to his room. He asks the bird a series of questions, and for each one, the bird replies with “nevermore”. In western traditions, ramens have been symbols of ill omens and death, but in Norse mythology they have symbolized memory and wisom. Pallas, who is the Greek goddess Athena, the goddess of wisdom, is where this raven perches upon. Could it mean that by the raven perching there, this is symbolic of the raven claiming the main character’s sanity while he is in the throes of descension to insanity through his depression and despair? Is the raven a symbol of trying to talk some wisdom and rationale to the main character?

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