Name: Rossemare Gabriel C.

Torregosa Instructor: Ma’am Nilda Arcipe

Year and Section: 1st Year-BSA1C Class Schedule: TTH (7:30-9:00am)
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1. Who are the characters of the story? Describe their actions.

➢ The narrator or murderer, the old man, the three police officers, and the neighbor
are the characters in the story. The narrator has mental issues, as evidenced by his
desire to murder someone simply because he hates its eyes. The old man was kind
to the narrator because he had never done anything to him that would lead to his
death. However, he has one unsightly pale blue eye, which causes a problem in the
narrator's mind. The three cops who arrived at the crime scene wanted to know
about the noise complaints. When they meet the narrator, they are good natured and
do not suspect foul play. The neighbor is the one who calls the cops after hearing
something from the residence.

2. Where did the story happen?

➢ The story takes place in a house where the main action happened in the old man’s
room.
3. What did the houseboy do every night?
➢ He sneaks into the old man’s room to watch it sleep.
4. Why did he hate the old man?
➢ He hates the old man because of his pale blue eye on which he compared to an eye
of a vulture.
5. What did he do to the old man?
➢ He killed the old man. After that, he dismembered its body and hid it under the
floor planks.
6. How did he talk to the policemen?
➢ He confidently talks to the policemen in a manner that he does not look suspicious
to them.
7. What caused his discomfort?
➢ His discomfort is caused by the ringing in his ears on which he believed to be the
pounding of the old man’s heart.
8. How did he reveal the truth of his actions?
➢ Scared to death by the noise that he is hearing, the narrator breaks down, screams,
and confesses his crime. He is also convinced that the officers are aware of not only
the heartbeat but also of his guilt. The narrator tells them to tear up the floor
planks to expose the remains of the old man's dismembered body.
9. Summarize the story.
The Tell-Tale Heart
 In the beginning of the story, an unnamed narrator claims that he is not mad but
dreadfully nervous. He claims that he will tell a story in which he will defend his craziness
while admitting to have murdered an old man. He was motivated to kill by his fear of the
old man's pale blue eye. He described it like an eye of a vulture. He maintains that he is
not crazy because he is calm and planned his actions. He went to the old man's room every
night and secretly observed him sleeping. Then in the morning, he would act like
everything is normal. After seven days of doing this, he feels the insane urge to kill and
decides to get rid of the old man.

However, in the eighth night of sneaking, the old man wakes up and startled out of
bed. The narrator stays motionless, stalking the old man who is awake and terrified. The
narrator soon hears a dull pounding, which he recognizes as the old man's terrified
heartbeat. Fearing that the neighbor will hear the shrieking, he attacks and kills the old
man. Realizing that the old man is dead, he then dismembers the body and hides the pieces
beneath the bedroom floor planks. He takes great care not to spill any blood on the floor.
As he completes his task, the clock strikes four o'clock. At the same time, the narrator hears
a knock at the street door. The cops have arrived after a neighbor reported hearing the
elderly man shriek. The narrator is careful to appear normal and chatty. He takes the
officers on a tour around the house without making any suspicious movements. He even
invites them into the old man's bedroom to sit and talk while sitting right above where he
hides the body. The cops are completely unaware.

The narrator managed to act normally until he hears a low pounding noise. The low
sound he recognizes as the old man's heart pounding beneath the floorboards. He panics,
convinced that the cops have heard the noise and are aware of his guilt. With the unbearable
feeling, he confesses the crime and screams at the men to tear up the floor planks. The
murderer is caught.

10. What lesson can be learned from the story?

➢ The lesson of the story is that no matter how good we are at covering up our
wrongdoings, our own sense of guilt will eventually expose us.