Download - 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?
