The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe

Vocabulary & Questions

Unburthen - To unburden; to unload.
Expound - to make a detailed statement; to explain;
interpret
Baroque - extravagantly ornate, florid, and convoluted in
character or style; irregular in shape
Rigorous - severely exact or accurate; precise: rigorous
research
Inscrutability - not easily understood; mysterious;
unfathomable
Swooning - to faint; lose consciousness
Stupefied - crazy, magnificent, unbelievable, amazing
Docility - easily managed or handled
Sagacious - having or showing acute mental discernment
and keen practical sense; shrewd
Tinctured - to imbue or infuse with something.

1. Describe the narrator as a child and compare it to his life as

an adult. Use text evidence to support your answer.
The narrator appeared to be a good person as a child, which is
very different from his murderous ways as an adult. The story
says, From my infancy I was noted for the docility and
humanity of my disposition. My tenderness of heart was even so
conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions.
Pg #: 3
2. On what does he blame his evil ways? Use text evidence to
support your answer.
The narrator blames his evil ways on a demon that possesses
him. The text states, The fury of a demon instantly possessed
me. I knew myself no longer. My original soul seemed, at once,
to take its flight from my body...
Pg #: 5
3. Describe Pluto. How do the narrator and his wife initially
react to him? Use text evidence to support your answer.
Pluto is the narrators cat that it a large, black cat. The
narrators wife is not fond of the cat at first, and he seems
unsure himself. The narrator says, This latter was a remarkably
large and beautiful animal, entirely black, and sagacious to an
astonishing degree. In speaking of his intelligence, my wife, who
at heart was not a little tinctured with superstition, made
frequent allusion to the ancient popular notion, which regarded
all black cats as witches in disguise.
Pg #: 4

4. A. What does the narrator first do to harm Pluto?Use t ext

evidence to support your answer.
The narrator first takes the cats eye out with a knife. It says, I
took from my waist-coat pocket a pen knife, opened it, grasped
the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its
eyes from the socket!
Pg #: 5
B. Why do you think he does this?
I think that he did this because the demon that possessed him
was angry with the cat about the bite.
C. How does Pluto react to him after this incident?Use t ext
evidence to support your answer.
The cat stayed away from him after the incident, as anyone
should when their eye is taken out. He went about the home as
usual, but, as might expected fled in extreme terror at my
approach.
Pg #: 5
5. How does the narrator rationalize killing Pluto? Use text
evidence to support your answer.
The narrator tells himself that every man does bad things
sometimes, so its okay if he did something bad. The narrator
thinks, Who has not, a hundred times, found himself
committing a vile or stupid action, for no other reason than
because he knows he should not?
Pg #: 6

6. What happens the night after the narrator kills Pluto?

The night after the narrator kills Pluto, his house burns down,
which is definitely karma.
7. What does he discover the next morning? What do you think
this indicates?
The next morning he discovers another cat. I think that this
indicates that his cat is coming back to haunt him.
8. How does the new cat differ from Pluto? What do you think
this trait symbolizes?Use text evidence to support your answer.
The new cat is slightly different from Pluto because of its
coloring. In my opinion, this trait is a sign that Pluto is coming
back to haunt him. ...and closely resembling him in every
aspect but one. Pluto had not a white hair upon any portion of
his body; but this cat had a large, although indefinite splotch of
white covering nearly the whole region of the breast.
Pg #: 8
9. Explain the circumstances concerning the murder of the
narrators wife. Use text evidence to support your answer.
The narrator murdered his wife because he was trying to
murder the cat, but she stopped him. He swung around and put
the axe to her head. But this blow was arrested by the hand of
my wife. Goaded by the interference into a rage more than
demonical, I withdrew my arm from her grasp and buried the
axe in her brain.
Pg #: 11
10. Compare The Black Cat to The Tell Tale Heart. Identify 3
things that are similar between the two stories.
1. The narrator claims that he is not mad but he really is.
2. The narrator murders someone.

3. The narrator goes to great lengths to hide the body, but

it ends up being found.

RUBRIC
RL.8.3: Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the
action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
Not Yet Meeting

Approaching Standard

Meeting Standard

Exceeding Standard

Struggled to identify
where particular lines
of dialogue or events in
a story or drama propel
the action, reveal
aspects of a character,
or cause a certain
decision to be made

Identified where particular

lines of dialogue or events in
a story or drama propel the
action, reveal aspects of a
character, or cause a certain
decision to be made, but did
not explain how.

Explained how
particular lines of
dialogue or events in a
story or drama propel
the action, reveal
aspects of a character,
or cause a certain
decision to be made

Explained how particular

lines of dialogue or events in
a story or drama propel the
action, reveal aspects of a
character, or cause a certain
decision to be made AND
supported an argument for
how this is important to the
overall story