Name:_________________________ Class Period:_____

“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe

Review Questions

1) What is our first impression of the narrator?

To whom is he speaking?

What does he say about his senses?

2) What is it about the man that bothers the narrator? Why?

How does he describe the eye?

What plan does he concoct?

What does the term “vulture eye” suggest?

How does this add to the mood of the story?

3) What does the narrator do each night? Why?

When does the narrator sneak into the man’s room?

For how many evenings does he do this?

How does the narrator act towards the old man during the day?

Why doesn’t he just kill the man during the day when the eye is open?

4) What happens on the eight night?

How does the old man react?

How does the narrator react?

What does the narrator say he’s usually doing each night?

5) What does the narrator feel upon seeing the old man’s terror?

What does his momentary sympathy say about him?

What does the narrator do to the old man?

What effect does the old man’s eye have upon the narrator this time?

6) What happens here at the climax of the story?

How does the narrator kill the old man?

What do the steps he takes to hide the crime say about him and his mental state?

7) Why does the narrator no longer fear being caught?

How does he react when the police arrive?

Do you think his confidence will wane?

8) What happens to shake the narrator’s calm?

What does he confess?

Would the crime have been discovered eventually? Why or why not?

Does the narrator really hear a heartbeat? Whose?

K. Shafer; one of interview options and retelling of scene adapted from J. Dube; some of activities adapted from Holt

II. Irony – Listen to story again and track different types of irony. Find at least 1 kind of each type of irony.

Verbal Irony Situational Irony Dramatic Irony -occurs when there is a difference between what a character says and what another character understands Ex. Scar says, “It’s to die for.” Example from Tell-Tale Heart: (Hint: what does the narrator say about himself?)

-when the opposite of what one would expect to happen actually happens Ex. My dog Lucky was hit by a car. Example from Tell-Tale Heart:

-when the reader/audience knows something that a character doesn’t Ex. Example from Tell-Tale Heart:

What is the effect of this irony on the reader? III. Literary Elements 1. Mood, or atmosphere, is the overall feeling in the story. How would you describe the mood in this story? What details does Poe use to create the mood? 2. Symbolism: What does the heartbeat noise symbolize in the story? Provide evidence from the story. 3. How does first paragraph foreshadow, or hint at, the events of the story? Be specific (use a quote)! 4. The final paragraph in the story builds to a kind of mad climax. How does the writer use words and punctuation to create tension - an even rhythm of a heartbeat? Be specific!

K. Shafer; one of interview options and retelling of scene adapted from J. Dube; some of activities adapted from Holt

IV. Style – Analyze Poe’s Stylistic Devices Find examples (quotes) of each stylistic device used in the story and its effect on the reader (See Poe’s Sinister Stylings OR notes if you need to review these devices.)

Device 1 Example Effect on Reader Word Repetition

2 different words that are repeated: Quote showing one of the examples listed above:

What is the effect of the passage you selected on you, the reader?

Dashes/Italicized Words

2 examples of dashes or italicized words being used: Quote showing one of the examples listed above:

What is the effect of the passage you selected on you, the reader?

Short, Choppy Sentences

Identify a passage where Poe uses short, choppy sentences. (The excerpt must have at least two short, choppy sentences.):

What is the effect of the passage you selected on you, the reader?

V. Unreliable Narrator 1. From whose point of view is this story told?

2. How does this point of view help create the “single effect”?

3. What does the narrator repeatedly claim about himself?

K. Shafer; one of interview options and retelling of scene adapted from J. Dube; some of activities adapted from Holt

4. Does this establish the narrator as a reliable source of information? Why or why not? In other words, provide 3

examples where the narrator is trying to establish his sanity and 3 examples where the narrator’s sanity is called into question. You’re looking for quotes here.

SANE INSANE

Page #

Literal O

bject or Image

Figurative Description Draw

O

bject or Image

Meaning

1

eye

2

blood

3

dark room

4

the old man dies

5

lantern light

6

dull, quick sound

7

narrator’s fury

Literal & Figurative Language in Edgar A

llan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”

Name____________________________________________________________Period_________Date_____________________

52

Now

, fill ou

t yo

ur ow

n!

Your Name:

Characters:

Setting:

Your N

ame:

Title:

Author:

Characters:

Setting:Setting:

Title: