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The Tell-Tale Heart

by Edgar Allan Poe

1. Who are the two characters of the short story? Describe them.

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2. What is the setting of the story?

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3. What is the mood of the story?

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4. Find three words in the text that recommend it as Gothic Literature: _______________________________

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5. Find two literary devices in the text (metaphor, personification, alliteration, simile, etc.) and write them in
the chart below:

Literary device Definition of the literary device Sentence it appears in the text

6. Who is telling the story of the old man’s murder? Why did he commit the murder?
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7. Why did the police knock on the narrator’s door?_____________________________________________
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8. Why did the narrator eventually confess his deed?_____________________________________________

9. Can you think of a possible theme of the story?

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10. Why does the narrator repeat certain words over and over again? What is the purpose for doing this?

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11. Why is the story called “The Tell-Tale Heart”?

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12. Describe the narrator’s feelings at the beginning of the story:

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13. Is the old man’s heart still beating at the end of the story?

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14. Is the old man afraid of something/someone when he wakes up?

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15. Why does the narrator kill the old man?_____________________________________________________

16. Why does the narrator admit he committed the crime? Why does it take him so long to do it?

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