The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

Insanity Plea Essay

“The Tell-Tale Heart” tells the story of a man who committed murder, and then
cunningly covered it up. It was the perfect crime. And yet, the narrator is somehow,
mysteriously telling us about his crime. As he tells of the crime, he repeatedly tells
us how he is not insane, giving us “evidence” to his sanity as he recounts the story.
The short story ends in him confessing to the crime, as he is convinced he has been
found out, to the police who came to investigate.

Your essay will argue whether the narrator either IS or IS NOT insane. Use the
following definition of insanity as a guide for your essay.

Essay requirements:
 4 paragraphs
o Introduction (Hook, background/bridge, and thesis statement)
o Body paragraph #1 – explain the first reason that supports your
thesis
o Body paragraph #2 – explain the second reason that supports your
thesis
o Conclusion (restate thesis, summarize your main points/idea, leave
reader something to think about)
 Double spaced (do not hit enter twice between sentences or paragraphs.
Use the double space line feature like I have shown you before.)
 12 point font (Times New Roman, Ariel, Cambria or Calibri)
 Name, date, and class in upper left corner (also double spaced)
 Title must be ORIGINAL, centered and NOT underlined or in quotes
 Do not use the pronouns you, your, me, or my

Body paragraph format:

Topic sentence  “Set the scene” sentence if necessary  Lead in & text evidence
(with citation in parenthesis)  Thorough explanation of your evidence & how it
proves sanity (guilt) or insanity (innocence)
Example of first piece of evidence for the prosecution (narrator is sane):

First of all, the killer remembers everything about the crime and can talk about it
calmly. In his confession, the killer says, “Hearken! and observe how healthily, how
calmly, I can tell you the whole story” (p. 46). A person who is legally insane
cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, so he probably wouldn’t have such an
accurate memory of everything that happened. If he remembers all the facts about
what he did, this proves that he was aware of reality and was not insane.

Example of first piece of evidence for the defense (narrator is insane):

First of all, the man was hearing things that weren’t really there. In his confession,
the many claimed that he had a very acute sense of hearing. He says, “I heard all
things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell” (p. 46). It sounds
as if this man can’t tell the difference between things he’s actually hearing and
things he’s just imagining—you can’t actually hear sounds from heaven or hell. If a
person who is legally insane has a hard time distinguishing between fantasy and
reality, this man is clearly insane.