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Course name
Edgar Allen Poe’s Tales and Poems with Henry Russell
Recorded course taught by Henry Russell for High School Survey Literature
Category
Literature ➤ Survey Literature
Grade
High School
Semester
Recorded
Summary

 Enter the mysterious world of Edgar Allan Poe, a man who was both a super-rationalist and a spiritual thinker, who was amazingly practical and endlessly impractical.  Through close readings of Poe’s most haunting tales and poems, students will explore themes of beauty, mortality, terror and the human soul—discussed with a Catholic lens that encourages deep reflection and critical thinking.

Course description: Poe is one of America’s most fascinating, most praised and most read authors.  Each story is a different mix of trying to explain the world rationally and psychologically, and yet always bordering on or moving fully into a world that seems supernatural.  Poe is intoxicated by beauty but always dreading some horror that may lie beyond.  Only in his poem to the Virgin Mary is there a complete peace.

Instructor: Dr. Henry Russell

Instructor Access (Optional grading support) is available for this course. Please note: this is ONLY recommended if you wish to write the optional paper. All quizzes are internally graded in this course. Optional papers will be completed via this page (click here) for an Instructor Access fee of $75.

Click here to enroll.

https://caravel.homeschoolconnections.com/catalog/1404104226

Total classes

7

Duration

55 minutes

Prerequisites

None

Suggested grade level

9th through 12th grade

Suggested credit

½ semester American or Modern Literature

Outline

Course outline:

Class 1:  Biography

Class 2:  The Murders in the Rue Morgue

Class 3: The Tell-Tale Heart

Class 4:  A Cask of Amontillado

Class 5:  Poems

Class 6: The Fall of the House of Usher

Class 7: The Fall of the House of Usher

Materials

  • The Essential Stories & Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (illustrated).  ISBN: 1703239288 (https://amzn.to/4jfclfF or BookFinder.com)

Homework

An hour to an hour and a half’s reading per class.  Computer-graded quizzes and final for immediate feedback.

Course name
Edgar Allen Poe’s Tales and Poems with Henry Russell
Instructor
Henry Russell
Semester
Recorded
Category
Literature ➤ Survey Literature
Grade levels
High School
Editors
Sophia Russell, Gianna Cunningham
Start time
January 8th, 2026 at 5:00 AM ET
Course type
Recorded, free with subscription
Relative due dates
Relative due dates are disabled for this course.
Enhanced quiz security
Enhanced assignment security

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Henry Russell
maryshire@gmail.com

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About Henry Russell

A graduate of Princeton and South Carolina (MS), Dr. Henry Russell completed his graduate work at Louisiana State University. Formerly the Chairman of Ave Maria College’s Department of Literature, he has also been a professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville and Wake Forest University. He is a founding faculty member of the St. Robert Southwell Creative Writing Workshop held in Mahwah, New Jersey.

Dr. Russell is Headmaster of the St. Augustine’s Homeschool Enrichment Program, which he founded with his wife Crystal. The program began in Fall 2005 with 20 students in two living rooms and now tutors more than 140 students in three locations.

Dr. Russell’s works include The Catholic Shakespeare Audio Series. He was the Associate Editor of The Formalist from 1990-2004 and his writings have been published in various journals. He was honored to edit Dr. Alice von Hildebrand’s groundbreaking volume, The Privilege of Being a Woman.

Click here for more info about Dr. Russell!

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© 2026 Homeschool Connections; Henry Russell. All Rights Reserved.

  • This material is only to be used for its intended purpose by active subscribers of Homeschool Connections or purchasers of the course. Any other use without explicit permission is in violation of the seventh commandment, and in violation of US and International copyright laws.
  • You may print or download to your own storage extracts for your personal homeschool and non-commercial use only. Use for homeschool co-ops is permitted after contacting customer support and receiving written permission from Homeschool Connections.
  • Upon completion of the course, you must delete all copies of course materials from any storage on which you saved permissible extracts.

Violation of the above copyright policies may result in expulsion without any refund and/or legal action.