Kyle Judd English 2 Final Exam

I believe that alchohol poisoning fits the circumstances of Poe's death better than the theory that he died of rabies. Poe was, in fact, notorious for being raging alchoholic and not "So Sensitive to alchohol that a glass of wine made him ill." He was, as many other great wirters are, a man who drank to alter his Perceptions of this world.Even Many of his literary works show signs of severe alchoholic depression.

I find the idea that he died of rabies to be rather obsurd. That is because, with the exception of his beloved cat, Poe hated most animals and would avoid them at any point possible. Some statements in the rabies articles also provide the reader with falsified information, Making their sources not credible. Dr. Moran, the man who treated Poe before his death, was a temperance advocate, but not until many years after Poe's death. It is believed by many that Moran saw the destruction of one of America's greatest literary giants and decided he would try to stop it from happening again if he could.

Also, other than the testimony of one doctor, and a list of symptoms that fit hundreds,if not thousands of conditions, no real evidence was given that Poe died of rabies. All that was given, was the testimony of doctors who are not even involved in the same field as rabies (Infectous Disease) but instead the man who originated the rabies theory, is a cardiologist! (Heart Doctor)
There is only one octor in the article who actually specializes in Rabies treatment.

The grounds on which the originator of these theories (The Cardiologist) came to this conclusion is highly questionable. He did not find it in a research hall, nor a hospital lab, nor even just having an epiphony on the crapper. He did it playing a game with a few other doctors. A game listing symptoms of random conditions, and with the initials, locations, and occupations that were all picked at random. I f we were to duplicate this game as an experiment within our class, i bet that we cou8ld find a combination of initials, locations, occupations, and conditions that match those of other people of note. The aditional fact that when describing this game, the doctor used the phrase "Hypothetical Scenarios." For those of you who don't know, Hypothetical means fake, made up, not real, or simply a fictional situation.

I feel that,seeing as how a well informed High school freshman was able to completely dismantle the arguments supporting rabies as the cause of death that it is safe to say that rabies did NOT cause Poe's death. Given the facts supporting the alchoholism theory and disputing the rabies theory, compined with the discrediting of the information produced by the people that follow the rabies theory, that alchoholism is the logical cause of Poe's death.