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The Gold Bug (1843)
On an island off South Carolina, the narrator meets Legrand and his servant Jupiter. Once rich, now poor, Legrand develops "grand" ideas of newfound riches when he is "bitten" by a gold bug he finds near a treasure map. The map leads the trio to a skull in a tree, below which they unearth the treasure of Captain Kidd. This is a humorous, quirky story, packed with tension and adventure.
The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841)
The narrator's brilliant friend Dupin reads a newspaper story of the murders of two women in an apartment in the Rue Morgue (Morgue Street), Paris. Much smarter than the police, Dupin makes amazing deductions about what kind of creature must have committed the gruesome killings and escaped from a locked upper flat. He proves that the "villain" was a sailor's terrified pet orangutan.
This was the first detective story ever. Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson were modeled on Poe's pair of sleuths.
Guided Reading Level: M
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