1. 研究目的与意义（文献综述包含参考文献）

Literature Review Edgar Allan Poe, best known for his poetry and short stories, is generally regarded as the inventor of the#160;detective fiction genre and one of the precursors of horror fiction. Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields such as#160;cosmology#160;and#160;cryptography. Poe and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature, music, films, and television. There are studies on Poe and his works since the half of the 19th century. During the period of over a hundred years, researches on Poe and his works gradually develop and become deeper and wider. Foreign research status Western studies on Poe and his works can date back to 1827, when his first poetry anthology was published. Poe is one of the most controversial writers in the history of America literature. Many well known writers and critics have quite different point of view on him, some do not agree with Poe, thinking him of ”a jingle man”(Emerson), while some are in favor of Poe and claim that he was the most original American genius(Tennyson). Apart from the attention from writers and critics, Poe#8217;s works have been popular among the public. Event with different reputation, Poe#8217;s important status in American literary is beyond doubt. Due to different opinions on Poe, researches on Poe and his works can be divided into three stages. From 1829 to the end of the 19th century, only part of Poe#8217;s poems received recognition, the weird themes in his short stories as well as his dissolute life got widespread rejection. From the beginning of the 20th century to 1960s, with the process of industrialization and the emerge of modern philosophy that has changed people#8217;s thoughts, Poe started to be recognized and became more and more popular among the public. Since 1970s, scholars studied Poe and his works from a wide range of perspectives, with diverse theories and more flexible methods.(Li, 2007:13-18) Studies on Poe for over a century can be mainly divided in to three parts. First, analysis on his works from the aspects of Poe#8217;s personal experience and character. Second, analysis on the context from Poe#8217;s context world. Third, analysis on the level of abstract structure. Skill, formation and content have been perfectly combined in Poe#8217;s works, which give readers not only the sense of reality but also the feeling of aesthetic. Since 1990s, a craze on Poe study has appeared and because of which, the influence of Poe and his works has been expanded among literary and culture all over the world.(Cao, 2008:15) Domestic research status Poe#8217;s novels, poems and literature theory have had effects on Chinese literature, especially during the period of the New Culture Movement. After the establishment of People#8217;s Republic of China, studies on Poe have once stopped. Since China#8217;s reform and opening-up, scholars have achieved developments on the research of Poe and his works. Translations of Poe#8217;s collection have been gradually published in China and China#8217;s academia have paid attention to Poe and made great progress on studies of Poe and his works. Now the translations of all of Poe ”s novels and poems are accessible, but there are few translations of his literature theory. Researches on Poe and his works can be divided into two stages. From 1982 to 1998, studies on Poe were in the prototype stage. Since 1998, more and more related theses have sprung up, and more and more aspects have been taken in the research of Poe and his works. Scholars have achieved plenty research findings, which can be divided into four groups: theses about work interpretation, theses about the study of writing style, theses about the theme of death and theses about comparison. (Cao, 2008:13-14) In general, respects such as realism, symbolism, character images, writing techniques and so on have been studied by many scholars in Poe#8217;s works. Apart from them, an important research angle focused on the death theme. As one of the main themes in Poe#8217;s works, researchers have attempted to decode death in his stories with diverse methods. Some make a thorough analysis of death, while some draw their attention on more detailed angles.For instance, Gao talks about the manifestation of death and its reasons(2015). Zhang analyzes death through connecting the context with Poe#8217;s personal experience(2011). Conclusion As we can, foreign researchers have fully studies Poe and his works, compared with that situation in China, studies need to be deeper and wider. Comprehensively comparing large amounts of theses about death, it is not hard to find that there is deficiency in the studies about the technique of expression on death. In order to make up for the deficiency of the studies existing, the author mainly does the following jobs on the basis of studying concerned documents. First of all, give a brief introduction of types and functions of the technique of expression. Secondly, make a concrete analysis on the chosen contexts and find out the clear techniques of expression that are applied in the contexts. Third, through comprehensive analysis, draw a conclusion on the effects of different techniques of expression and their influences on subsequent horror and detective stories.

2. 研究的基本内容、问题解决措施及方案

At the very beginning, I read the introduction of Poe and his works. After having a vague understanding of Poe#8217;s personal experience, I focus my mind on his horror stories. Before I set about the intensive reading, I find several stories with both original texts and translation editions, which will directly affect the depth and the quality of the analysis. After having a vague impression of Poe#8217;s personal experience and the background of the society, I start the detailed reading. During the process, I take down significant sentences which will be of help to quote as proofs of the thesis statement. I write a reading note which contains the brief introduction of the chosen stories, the analysis of main characters and the writing techniques that were used in the stories. Meanwhile, I pay my attention to the death theme and the ways that how Poe expresses death in his stories. What#8217;s more, I collect related materials including intensive information of the author and relative references like periodicals and thesis written by bachelors and masters. From those articles and studies, I am informed with the previous discussion on the book and accordingly can modify my views while bring forward my argument. Last but not least, my supervisor offers me with several advice. Her patient help is significant and indispensable. In a word, reading the texts, taking notes, collecting related materials and discussing with my supervisor are the main methods and procedures of the study. At last I come up with the primary outline of my paper. It consists of five parts.The first chapter will be the introduction of research background and need of the study, then literature review forms the second chapter. The Techniques of Expression of Death in Poe#8217;s short stories will be the third chapter and the fourth chapter is the effects of different techniques of expression and their influences on subsequent horror and detective stories. The last chapter is conclusion of the whole paper.