Poe

Edgar Allen Poe was born to travelling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809, the second of three children. His parents died when he reached the age of three and he was adopted by the Allens while his siblings were taken in by other families.
His foster father sent him to the University of Virginia with only a third of the amount of money needed and Poe's debts quickly piled. He resorted to gambling for money and burning furniture to keep warm. He was kicked out of the university and returned to his home.
There he found out that his fiancee had gotten engaged to another man in his absence. He left his home heartbroken and his foster father enrolled him in the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was expelled in eight months. 
He published his first book when he was eighteen and soon after being expelled from West Point published another. His poetry was featured in newspapers and he once spread false rumors about travelling across the ocean in a balloon in order to gain publicity for his work. "The Raven" was (and still is) his most famous work. Most households had a copy of the poem and most of his poems were printed and distributed through newspapers and magazines.
Poe's stories and poems were largely based on his own life experiences. Many people he was close to had died of tuberculosis, including his mother and wife. His writing reflected the stages of his emotions; he also dedicated many of his works to close friends and his family.
His death remains a mystery to the general public and there were only theories of how he died. Not even his family knew where he was when he died. It sparked some controversy and led to the first biography of Poe's life. Rufus Griswold, Poe's literary rival, wrote a memoir about how Poe was a drunk and womanizer that was intended to ruin Poe's reputation. It didn't work, however, and even after his death his works gained even more fame.

What is an American?

I'm going to be straight up and honest about this and say I really don't know what an American is. There are different standings about it, and I never gave this much thought before. When I ask older people (i.e. parents, grandparents) what they think when someone mentions "America", most of them say opportunities. I understand where they're coming from. Most adults immigrated from another country to America, or maybe their parents or grandparents times a great many times over did. America was and still is a place where there are slightly higher chances of getting a decent paying job. Although this is true, many companies are outsourcing jobs to places where they can pay employees much less than in America.

Some mentioned freedom. We, as citizens of the United States of America, do not have complete freedom. We are automatically allowed the freedom of press, religion, speech, assembly, and petition but we are not granted the rights of killing someone just because he/she angered us (and if so, more than half the population on Earth would be dead-don't deny it! We've all felt annoyance or anger toward at least one person in our lives.) Our rights to freedom are limited, but for a good cause. We can't do some things because it would not be morally right (but who's the judge of that?) nor would it be socially acceptable.

Speaking of society, we as Americans, as humans, judge people. We usually do this with appearance or five to ten seconds into meeting someone. It can range from "what on earth is that person wearing" dislike to outright "this is undoubtedly the most repulsive person I've ever met" disgust. First acquaintances rarely go well. It can range from current-Miley-Cyrus disgust to ew-Justin-Bieber dislike (I do no justice to this. I swear.) It can range from a general dislike of a person as a whole (for example, the annoying peer that always talks in class; not saying it's anyone I think in particular) to a dislike with the burning passion of a thousand white-hot suns (honestly, I've met some unpleasant people who are definitely worthy of that last title, and I use it to describe my relationship with them quite often.)

To wrap this up neatly, I truthfully do not think there is a definite definition of what an American is. The opportunities in America are disappearing quickly due to outsourcing. The "Land of Freedom" title is quite misleading and as a disclaimer, I highly do not recommend taking it seriously to the point of committing a crime. Americans (and more generically human beings) judge harshly, especially with the repulsive public acts of some certain people and some questionable professions. An American is what an American is. There's no other way to explain it from my view. We are what (and who) we are.