As an aspiring Southern gentleman, Edgar Allan Poe yearned for the glamor of fame and wealth, importance and prosperity. To achieve this through his writing, Poe understood that he had to be able to sell his writing to make money, but he also had to appeal to people of distinction to gain the respect of their community. This sharp division of the public made it difficult for Poe to balance his writing in such a way as to target both the common people, the literary elite, and the working-class middle class. Yet this division creates a unique brand of Poe's writing that uses tactics to appeal to both audiences, creating art that works with Poe's definition and that of his audience. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Art for Poe is a complicated thing. Even if he aspires to belong to a class that considers art an elite substance, he must strive to create art that is not just for the elite. However, as Poe writes in "The Philosophy of Composition", "let us reject, as unrelated to the poem itself, the circumstance - or let us say the necessity - which in the first place gave rise to the intention of compose a poem. it must suit both popular and critical taste” (1375) for a moment. For Poe, it seems that art involves a premeditated process, focused on very specific elements. As he opens his essay "The Philosophy of Composition," he praises the author of "Caleb Williams," saying that he "was too good an artist not to perceive the advantage that might arise from 'a process at least somewhat similar' (1373). Poe writes this in reference to the idea that the author begins his process by planning his writing backwards; he clearly admires the process as a means of creating art, while the product itself is perhaps less important to Poe. This is also seen in his work, as the typical pattern Poe follows in his writing involves very long sections of rising action and character development with dramatic climaxes near the end of the story. If climaxes can be read as the climax of a story, Poe shows his investment in the development that led to this moment. For example, "William Wilson" traces the life of William Wilson for twenty pages before the story's final paragraph reveals the man's fate and, perhaps, the moral attached to the story (337-357 ). Additionally, stories such as "Berenice", "Hop-Frog", and "The Oval Portrait" all use multiple pages of backstory and suspense, creating the ultimate effect; in this way, Poe recognizes the importance of the journey within art. At the same time, Poe's understanding of the effect relies on the brevity of the work. “If a literary work is too long to be read in one sitting,” he explains, “we must be content to do without the immensely important effect afforded by the printing unit – for, if two sittings are necessary, the affairs of the world intervene, and everything resembling the totality is immediately destroyed” (1375). Poe believes in complete concentration and attention to art; no distractions should be present in his work; this may speak to a bit of self-importance on Poe's part, which makes sense, given his Southern aristocracy aspirations. Poe relies on a delicate balance between brevity and enthusiasm, enthusiasm and class. According to Poe, there is a “proper degree of excitement” that is “neither higher than popular taste nor lower than critical taste” (1376). Poe seems to think he has found the right one.