FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Colleen Wright

December 20, 2002Telephone: (410) 581-4293

E-mail:

MPT. This is bigger than television.

Poetry, Roses, Graveyards…and a Football Team?

MPT Launches Knowing Poe: The Literature and Life of Edgar Allan Poe

OWINGS MILLS, MD--Travel back to 19th century Baltimore and meet Edgar Allan Poe in the interactive online experience Knowing Poe, found on the Web at: mpt.org/learningworks/knowingpoe. Maryland Public Television brings one of Baltimore’s most famous writers to life (just in time for Poe’s birthday on January 19) with a media-rich electronic field trip designed for Maryland middle and high school students, teachers, or just simply Poe fans.

Explore Poe the person and Poe the writer with over 10 different interactive activities that examine everything from Poe’s Baltimore and his perfectionist editing to his house and his fascination with cryptograms. John Astin(best known as Gomez from the hit TV show the Addams Family) appears as Poe throughout the site, introducing themes and theories of Poe’s work as Poe himself might have.

Fun features, visuals, sounds, video, music, mysteries, and learning exercises abound at this highly entertaining, yet highly educational, new cyber-destination. Visitors will be intrigued with the ability to interact with the literature, life and times of one of America’s most compelling authors.

There’s a lot to do and learn in Knowing Poe – here’s a sampling:

Tour Real-Life Places--Take a virtual tour of early 19th century Baltimore sites through annotated “then” and “now” maps of the city and see Poe’s tiny home from 1831-1835.

Experiment with Poe’s Writing--Follow one of Poe’s short stories from three different points of view and create your own version of The Bells with voices and sound effects.

Explore the Mystery of Poe’s Life and Death

--Investigate the real-life mystery of Poe’s death, solve one of Poe’s cryptograms and create your own.
--more--

Knowing Poe--developed in collaboration with educators, historians and Poe experts--features a wealth of tools and resources for the classroom and beyond. Maryland teachers will appreciate that all the lesson plans, discussion questions, and activity sheets are linked to Maryland Learning Outcomes. Poe fans and purists will delight in the authenticity of the materials—gathered from primary sources held by the Maryland Historical Society and the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore. And students and visitors alike will be entertained while they explore the literature, life and times of one of Baltimore’s most famous writers.

And what about that football team? Just for fun, Baltimore Ravens head coach, Brian Billick, appears in video clips along with cheerleaders and players quoting lines from Poe’s “The Raven.”

Knowing Poe, one of many digital education projects of Maryland Public Television, joins MPT’s other award-winning online field trips and interactives on the Web designed to inspire and teach Maryland students, including Pathways to Freedom: Maryland & the Underground Railroad, Bay Trippers: An Online Field Trip to the Chesapeake Bay, Sense and Dollars, and Plastic Fork Diaries. Experience them all at

Knowing Poe is funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education Star Schools Program.

Maryland Public Television is a not-for-profit, state-licensed public television station which serves the citizens and communities of Maryland and beyond through a variety of broadcast and nonbroadcast activities. For more information on MPT and its on- and off-air programming, visit mpt.org.

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