the tell tale heart

The Tell Tale Heart

Edgar Allen Poe

Edgar Allen Poe

The Raven

quoth the raven – ‘nevermore’

What irritates you about other people?

Have you ever felt yourself disliking a person for no

apparent reason?

Is there any characteristic or trait about another person that might haunt you to the extent that you

would murder them?

What would the world look like through the eyes of a madman?

How does guilt manifest itself?

What are the different symbolic meanings of the ‘heart’?

As we read the short story, keep an ‘eye out’ for the following:

•Narrative perspective

•The importance of the setting

•The ambiguity of the ending

•The atmosphere created

How did Poe create such a powerful atmosphere in such a

brief piece of writing?

The Ending

What do you think was responsible for the sound of the beating heart?

Was the narrator being haunted by a supernatural presence or was he merely suffering from the same madness that drove him to kill the old man in the first place?

Does it matter?

Task 1: Close textual analysis of a selected passage

The tools of tension

•Plot events•Narrative commentary•Sentence length•Use of punctuation•Repetition•Similes and metaphors•Strong verb choices•Adjectives•Juxta-positioning & contrast

Language feature Effect

Increasingly fragmented sentence

structures

Suggest the narrator’s growing fear and

desperationThe contrast between

the agitation of the narrator and the calm oblivious reaction of

the Police Officers

Emphasizes the narrator’s insanity or

implies a supernatural origin for the beating

heart – either of which raises the tension

Close textual analysis makes use of ‘discourse markers’ such as:

This highlights / implies / suggests...This is reinforced by...

Another method used is...An emphasis is placed upon...Likewise, similarly, in contrast,

Moreover, furthermore

So how important is Poe’s language and style?

After all, isn’t it the plot that’s the most important element of any story?

Task 2: Narrative Voice

Write a paragraph in the style of the narrator describing the cell in which you now find yourself

Then write a paragraph in the style of one of the police officers, reporting your initial impressions of the man who committed the murder

How are your two pieces different in terms of style, sentence constructions and language choices?