Transcript Saved by the Bell

[Photo of a mausoleum] Have you ever watched a movie or read a book about being buried alive? Did it scare you? Well, if it did, you wouldn’t be alone. [Photo of an outstretched, dirty greenish hand] Back in the 1800s, the possibility of being buried alive was very real to many people. With plague and disease on the rise, people started to fear what might happen if they were mistaken for dead.

[Drawing of Edgar Allan Poe] Edgar Allan Poe is known for his bone chilling tales. He would often take common fears and creatively twist them into dark stories we are familiar with today. Take “The Fall of the House of Usher,” for example. Published in 1839, “The Fall of the House of Usher” preys on the terror of being buried alive.

[Drawing of a body in a buried coffin, holding a rope by which he could ring an exterior bell] During the 18th and 19th centuries, the fear of premature burial or the fear that a person would be mistaken for dead and then buried alive, sparked the invention of devices known as “safety coffins.” [A schematic of a more elaborate safety coffin] These coffins came in a range of designs. In the simple coffins, they drilled a hole in the coffin’s lid and placed a string in the occupant’s hand. If the person was still alive, he or she would pull the string, and it would ring a bell on the surface. In addition to the warning bell, some coffins included things like flags, small fireworks, breathing tubes, and even tubes that could be used to deliver food to the person inside the coffin.

Think these coffins are just things of the past? Think again! Patents for safety coffin designs have been submitted as recently as 1995! The modern design had a heart monitor, a flashlight, an oxygen tank, and a communication system that would let you make calls from "beyond the grave."

[A graphic design that gradually develops into the face of a woman] In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” when Madeline rises from the dead, we have to ask if she was ever dead at all, or if she was actually buried alive in her tomb. If we look back to when she was being buried, the narrator tells us that Madeline Usher seemed to have a "faint blush" to her skin and a "suspiciously lingering smile." Does that description make it seem like she was dead? Or does it sound more like she was just asleep?

[An illustration from Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” showing Fortunato chained to the catacomb wall, gradually revealing Montresor walling him into his tomb] This isn’t the only time Poe calls upon the terrors of live burial. It can also be found in “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Premature Burial.” Have you read either of these? If you have, did either of them scare you?

question: Although the video gave you a brief overview of Edgar Allan Poe’s life, there are many other pieces of information that were not covered in the video. Using credible sources, find ten more facts about Edgar Allan Poe. Pick out one bit of information that you want to know more about, and formulate a question that you can research. Finally, write one paragraph answering or beginning to answer the question you created for yourself based on the facts you found about Edgar Allan Poe. For example, you might do research about something else mentioned in connection with Edgar Allan Poe in order to deepen your understanding of who he is as a person.