Name:       Date:      

“The Fall of the House of Usher”

Edgar Allan Poe

Comprehension
Identify the choice that best answers the question. WRITE THE ANSWER ON THE
LINE.

  C   1. At the beginning of “The Fall of the House of Usher,” what does the
narrator do?
a. He listens to Roderick Usher’s improvisations on the guitar.
b. He travels with Roderick Usher to visit Usher’s family home.
c. He travels to visit Roderick Usher at Usher’s family home.
d. He helps Roderick Usher bury Roderick’s sister Madeline in a vault.

  D   2. Which phrase best describes Usher’s state of mind in “The Fall of the
House of Usher”?
a. cautious and glum
b. dull and depressed
c. suspicious and miserable
d. nervous and agitated

  A  3. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” what does Usher say is his biggest fear?
a. being frightened to death
b. being accidentally buried alive
c. the death of his sister Madeline
d. the collapse of his family’s house

  B   4. Which of the following is the most accurate description of what happens
to Madeline Usher in “The Fall of the House of Usher”?
a. She dies, is buried by her brother, but then returns to life to terrorize her
brother and the narrator.
b. She appears to die, is mistakenly entombed, but then revives and
forces her way to freedom before dying.
c. She pretends to die, is taken for dead and is buried, but then emerges
from her crypt to destroy the house.
d. She nearly dies, recovers through a doctor’s help, but then is thrown into
an underground cell by her brother.

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 GRADE 10 • UNIT 1 • SELECTION TEST
“THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER” BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

Name:       Date:      

  B   5. Which is the most accurate description of the ending of the “The Fall of
the House of Usher”?
a. During a storm, the waters of the tarn surrounding the house rise until the
house is submerged.
b. During a storm, the barely perceptible fissure in the façade of the
house widens until the house collapses.
c. During a storm, Roderick Usher madly rushes about striking at the house
until he causes its collapse.
d. During a storm, Roderick and Madeline Usher struggle so madly that
they cause the collapse of the house.

Analyze the Text

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

  C   6. Read the following sentence from “The Fall of the House of Usher,” in
which the narrator explains that he has received a letter from Roderick Usher.
A letter, however, had lately reached me in a distant part of the country—a letter
from him—which, in its wildly importunate nature, had admitted of no other than a
personal reply.

What is the most likely reason the narrator says the letter “admitted of no
other than a personal reply”? Base your answer on your knowledge of the story
as well as on the sentence.
a. The narrator feels obliged to respond to his friend’s request for a visit
because his friend is clearly upset.
b. The narrator is worried that it will seem rude if he does not answer the
letter in a personal way.
c. The narrator hopes his friend will invite him to stay in the distant
part of the country where his friend lives.
d. The narrator believes that his friend is threatening to harm him if he does
not give the right answer.
7. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part
B.

  D   Part A In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” which details of the house’s
interior seem to reflect Usher’s appearance and the condition of his mind?
a. Usher’s confused behavior is reflected in the broken mirrors.
b. Usher’s self-assurance and noble manner is reflected in its wealth and
splendor.
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 GRADE 10 • UNIT 1 • SELECTION TEST
“THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER” BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

c. Usher’s advanced age and old-fashioned ways are reflected in the ancient
furnishings.
d. Usher’s physical and mental deterioration is reflected in the gloomy
darkness, lack of comfort, and old, worn-out possessions.
  C   Part B Which excerpt from “The Fall of the House of Usher” best supports
the answer to Part A?
a. The room in which I found myself was very large and lofty.
b. The general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered.
c. A small picture presented the interior of an immensely long and
rectangular vault or tunnel, with low walls, smooth, white, and
without interruption or device.
d. Our books—the books which, for years, had formed no small portion of
the mental existence of the invalid—were, as might be supposed, in
keeping with this character of phantasm.

8. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

  C   Part A In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” which of the following is one
of Roderick Usher’s disturbing ideas?
a. Usher believes that his house has awareness, like a living thing.
b. Usher believes that his house will fall apart, sliding into the tarn.
c. Usher believes that his sister will die, even though she is healthy.
d. Usher believes that the narrator has held a grudge, ever since boyhood.

  D   Part B Which excerpt from the story best supports the answer to Part A?
a. Although, as boys, we had been even intimate associates, yet I really
knew little of my friend. His reserve had been always excessive and
habitual.
b. The belief, however, was connected … with the gray stones of the home
of his forefathers. The conditions of the sentience had been here, he
imagined, fulfilled in the method of collocation of these stones.…
c. “I shall perish:” said [Usher], “I must perish in this deplorable folly. Thus,
thus, and not otherwise, shall I be lost. I dread the events of the future,
not in themselves, but in their results.”
d. [O]ne evening, having informed me abruptly that the lady Madeline
was no more, [Usher] stated his intention of preserving her corpse for
a fortnight.…
      9. Which excerpt from “The Fall of the House of Usher” best captures the
story’s overall effect?
a. There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart—an
unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the
imagination could torture into aught of the sublime.
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 GRADE 10 • UNIT 1 • SELECTION TEST
“THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER” BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

b. Although, as boys, we had been even intimate associates, yet I really

knew little of my friend.
c. Beyond this indication of extensive decay, however, the fabric gave little
token of instability.
d. It had been used, apparently, in remote feudal times, for the worst
purposes of a donjon-keep, and, in later days, as a place of deposit for
powder….
CLOSE READ: Analyze Craft and Structure
Identify the choice that best answers the question.

10. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part
B.

      Part A Which of the following is a defining element of Gothic literature that is
clearly illustrated by “The Fall of the House of Usher”?
a. believable characters and settings
b. weird or otherworldly occurrences
c. a narrator who is also a character in the story
d. a contrast between rational and irrational characters

      Part B Which excerpt from “The Fall of the House of Usher” best supports
the answer to Part A?
a. Nevertheless, in this mansion of gloom I now proposed to myself a sojourn
of some weeks. Its proprietor, Roderick Usher, had been one of my boon
companions in boyhood; but many years had elapsed since our last
meeting.
b. The writer spoke of acute bodily illness—of a mental disorder which
oppressed him—and of an earnest desire to see me, as his best, and indeed
his only personal friend, with a view of attempting … some alleviation of
his malady.
c. And thus, as a closer and still closer intimacy admitted me more
unreservedly into the recesses of his spirit, the more bitterly did I perceive
the futility of all attempt at cheering a mind from which darkness, as if an
inherent positive quality, poured forth upon all objects of the moral and
physical universe, in one unceasing radiation of gloom.
d. [B]ut then without those doors there did stand the lofty and enshrouded
figure of the lady Madeline of Usher. There was blood upon her white
robes, and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her
emaciated frame.… then, with a low moaning cry, fell heavily inward upon
the person of her brother, and in her violent and now final death agonies,
bore him to the floor a corpse, and a victim to the terrors he had
anticipated.

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 GRADE 10 • UNIT 1 • SELECTION TEST
“THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER” BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

Name:       Date:      

      11. Which aspects of Roderick Usher’s character most clearly illustrate
elements of Gothic literature? Choose two options.
a. Roderick is an accomplished musician.
b. Roderick has a twin sister with whom he lives.
c. Roderick fears that unnatural forces control his home.
d. Roderick and his sister are the last living members of their family.
e. Roderick lives in a gloomy ancestral home far from populated areas.
f. Roderick reads specialized books and has unique theories about the
world.
12. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part
B.

      Part A Read the following excerpt from “The Fall of the House of Usher.”
The impetuous fury of the entering gust nearly lifted us from our feet. It was, indeed,
a tempestuous yet sternly beautiful night, and one wildly singular in its terror and its
beauty.… —yet we had no glimpse of the moon or stars, … But the under surfaces
of the huge masses of agitated vapor, as well as all terrestrial objects immediately
around us, were glowing in the unnatural light of a faintly luminous and distinctly
visible gaseous exhalation which hung about and enshrouded the mansion.

In what way is this excerpt most clearly characteristic of Gothic literature?

a. The description is dramatic. The setting described is eerie.
b. The description is detailed. The setting described is stormy.
c. The description is dramatic. The setting described has wild beauty.
d. The description is detailed. The setting described is filled with light.

      Part B Which most clearly is the intended effect of the excerpt in Part A?
a. to help readers understand why a disaster will soon occur
b. to help readers sympathize with a character who is going mad
c. to create a mood of terror
d. to create a mood of enthusiasm

DIRECTIONS: Complete each item, responding to the prompt or identifying the choice
that best answers the question.

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 GRADE 10 • UNIT 1 • SELECTION TEST
“THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER” BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

1. Explain the circumstances of the narrator's visit to Roderick Usher in “The

Fall of the House of Usher.” How did the visit come about and why did the
narrator agree to it?

    

2. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.
Read the following passage from “The Fall of the House of Usher.”

For several days ensuing, her name was unmentioned by either Usher or myself;
and during this period I was busied in earnest endeavors to alleviate the
melancholy of my friend. We painted and read together, or I listened, as if in a
dream, to the wild improvisations of his speaking guitar.

      Part A What can you infer about the narrator’s character from this
passage?
a. He is caring.
b. He is a talented artist.
c. He has a life of leisure.
d. He has a restless temperament.

      Part B Which quotation from the text best supports the inference in Part
A?
a. For several days ensuing, her name was unmentioned …
b. … I was busied in earnest endeavors to alleviate the melancholy of my
friend.
c. We painted and read together …
d. … I listened, as if in a dream, to the wild improvisations of his speaking
guitar.

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