English Department

Academic Year 2021-2022

• Grade: 10
• Week: 3
• Lesson Title: Finding the Facts
 The Fall of the House of Usher
By Edgar Allan Poe
Son coeur est un luth suspendu;/Sitôt qu'on le touche
il résonne. De Béranger.
Narrator
These lines in French, used as the story's epigraph,
come from the poet Pierre Jean de Beranger.
Beranger was a contemporary of Poe, living 1780–
1857. The lines translate as "His heart is a
hanging lute; whenever someone touches it, it
resounds.“

This line functions as the story’s epigraph. Why?

Objectives
1-To identify an epigraph.
2-To analyze characters.
Watch the video to identify what an epigraph is.
An epigraph is a short quotation or saying at the beginning of a
book or chapter, intended to suggest its theme.

How does this description fit Roderick Usher?

This description fits Roderick Usher. As the story progresses, he
becomes ever more tightly wound, like a string on an instrument
that's too tense, and any sound sets him off. The quotation from
the outside author sounds artistic and, like this sensitivity, is a
good thing, but Poe shows just how dark and painful this
sensitivity could be.
Try to guess the meaning of the following
words and relate them to the story The Fall of
the House of Usher.
1-fissure
2-enigmatic
3-hypochondriac
4-doppelganger
5-catalyepsy
6-annihilate
7-antiquity
8-dissolution
9-rending
10-tumultuous
1-fissure 4-doppelganger 6-annihilate 9-rending

7-antiquity 10-tumultuous
2-enigmatic
5-catalepsy
Catalepsy is a nervous
condition characterized by
muscular rigidity and fixity of
posture regardless of
external stimuli, as well as
decreased sensitivity to pain.
8-dissolution
3-hypochondriac
Task B
What inferences about Roderick’s personality can be derived from the following quotations
Quotations Inferences
1-“Many books and musical instruments lay
scattered about, but failed to give any
vitality to the scene”
2-“He suffered much from a morbid
acuteness of the senses”

3-“To an anomalous (strange, unusual)

species of terror I found him a bounden
slave”
4-“ . . . having informed me abruptly that
the lady Madeleine was no more, he stated
his intention of preserving her corpse for a
fortnight . . . in one of the numerous vaults
within the main walls of the building”
5-“There were times indeed when I thought
his unceasingly agitated mind was laboring
with some oppressive secret” Roderick Usher
Task A
What inferences about the narrator’s personality can be derived from the
following quotations?
Quotes
'Do I not distinguish that heavy and
horrible beating of her heart?
Madman!'—here he sprang furiously
to his feet, and shrieked out his
syllables, as if in the effort he were
giving up his soul—'Madman! I tell
you that she now stands without the
door!'
Roderick Usher
While I gazed, this fissure rapidly
widened—there came a fierce breath
of the whirlwind—the entire orb of
the satellite burst at once upon my
sight—my brain reeled as I saw the
mighty walls rushing asunder—there
was a long tumultuous shouting
sound like the voice of a thousand
waters—and the deep and dank tarn
at my feet closed sullenly and silently
over the fragments of the 'House of
Usher.' Narrator
Inferences
Roderick labels the narrator a
"madman," essentially saying he's
the one living in reality while his old
friend (the narrator) is crazy.
How can you evaluate the reliability
of the narrator and the authenticity
of his story?
This is the final line of "The Fall of
the House of Usher." As the narrator
watches, a crack in the house widens,
and the house literally breaks into
pieces. The pieces then fall into the
lake, which completely swallows
them up.
1-Do you think this is realistic? Why?
2-What inferences about the narrator
can be derived from his description?
Task C
What inferences and inspirations can be derived from the following
quotations about the house and the characters?
Quotes Inferences
I know not how it was—but, with the Keeping in mind that Roderick
first glimpse of the building, a sense of suggested that the house has its own
insufferable gloom pervaded my intelligence, what does this line show?
spirit. And what is its impact on people living
Narrator in it?
“While the objects around me--while 1-How does the narrator perceive
the carvings of the ceilings, the sombre these ordinary objects?
tapestries of the walls, the ebon 2-What inferences about the narrator
blackness of the floors, and the can you make?
phantasmagoric armorial trophies
which rattled as I strode, were but
matters to which, or to such as which, I
had been accustomed from my
infancy--while I hesitated not to
acknowledge how familiar was all this-
-I still wondered to find how unfamiliar
were the fancies which ordinary
images were stirring up.”
Narrator
“Perhaps the eye of a scrutinizing 1-What associations does the fissure
observer might have discovered a evoke in you as a reader?
barely perceptible fissure, which, 2-What does this fissure foreshadow?
extending from the roof of the building
in front, made its way down the wall in
a zigzag direction, until it became lost
 Quotes (Task A)
'Do I not distinguish that heavy and horrible beating
of her heart? Madman!'—here he sprang furiously to
his feet, and shrieked out his syllables, as if in the
effort he were giving up his soul—'Madman! I tell you
that she now stands without the door!'
Roderick Usher
While I gazed, this fissure rapidly widened—there
came a fierce breath of the whirlwind—the entire orb
of the satellite burst at once upon my sight—my brain
reeled as I saw the mighty walls rushing asunder—
there was a long tumultuous shouting sound like the
voice of a thousand waters—and the deep and dank
tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the
fragments of the 'House of Usher.'
Narrator
Inferences
Roderick labels the narrator a "madman," essentially
saying he's the one living in reality while his old friend
(the narrator) is crazy.
How can you evaluate the reliability of the narrator
and the authenticity of his story?
This is the final line of "The Fall of the House of
Usher." As the narrator watches, a crack in the house
widens, and the house literally breaks into pieces. The
pieces then fall into the lake, which completely
swallows them up.
1-Do you think this is realistic? Why?
2-What inferences about the narrator can be derived
from his description?
 Quotes (Task C) Inferences
I know not how it was—but, with the first glimpse of the building, a Keeping in mind that Roderick suggested
sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. that the house has its own intelligence,
Narrator what does this line show? And what is its
impact on people living in it?

“While the objects around me--while the carvings of the ceilings, the 1-How does the narrator perceive these
sombre tapestries of the walls, the ebon blackness of the floors, and ordinary objects?
the phantasmagoric armorial trophies which rattled as I strode, 2-What inferences about the narrator can
were but matters to which, or to such as which, I had been you make?
accustomed from my infancy--while I hesitated not to acknowledge
how familiar was all this--I still wondered to find how unfamiliar
were the fancies which ordinary images were stirring up.”
Narrator

“Perhaps the eye of a scrutinizing observer might have discovered a 1-What associations does the fissure evoke
barely perceptible fissure, which, extending from the roof of the in you as a reader?
building in front, made its way down the wall in a zigzag direction, 2-What does this fissure foreshadow?
until it became lost in the sullen waters of the tarn.” Narrator
Assessment
“I was aware, however, that his very ancient family had been noted, time out of mind, for a
peculiar sensibility of temperament, displaying itself, through long ages, in many works of exalted
art, and manifested, of late, in repeated deeds of munificent yet unobtrusive charity, as well as in a
passionate devotion to the intricacies, perhaps even more than to the orthodox and easily
recognizable beauties of musical science.”

Analyze this quotation from The Fall of the House of Usher and create a connection to the Usher
family, Roderick’s personality and his physical appearance, his home and the perspective of
society to such individuals who seclude themselves from the outside world.
Warming up: Mention some information
about your childhood friend.
 Quotes (Individual Task) Inferences
Although, as boys, we had been even intimate 1-What does this line indicate about the relationship
associates, yet I really knew little of my friend between Roderick and the narrator?
Narrator 2-What inferences can you make about Roderick’s
A video (catalepsy) personality?
The disease of the lady Madeline had long baffled the 1-What does this statement from Madeline’s doctors
skill of her physicians. A settled apathy, a gradual describe? What does this foreshadow?
wasting away of the person, and frequent although 2-How does this statement show the link between
transient affections of a partially cataleptical character Madeline and Roderick?
were the unusual diagnosis.
Narrator a video (twins)
A striking similitude between the brother and sister now 1-What conclusions can you draw from the factual point
first arrested my attention; and Usher, divining, that Roderick and Madeline are twins? And how does
perhaps, my thoughts, murmured out some few words this foreshadow the story ending?
from which I learned that the deceased and himself had
been twins, and that sympathies of a scarcely
intelligible nature had always existed between them.
Narrator
Answer Key
Roderick Usher
-The owner of the mansion
-The last male in the Usher line
-A hypochondriac; a person who is constantly worried that he has some illness. He has overly-acute senses, and his illness is primarily a mental
one.
-A man of culture who is interested in book and music
-Functions as a doppelganger for his twin sister Madeline. A doppelganger is a person who is a duplicate; a counterpart of a person. Roderick
claims that he and his twin share a special connection, one that others would scarcely understand. Both share a sort of extra -sensory bond.
Roderick and Madeline are actually two halves of the same person: male/female, metal/physical, worldly/other-worldly, natural/supernatural.
Madeline becomes insensible to any external stimuli, so she can’t see or hear any thing. Roderick becomes so sensitive to sound that he can’t liten
to some music. They are twins and therefore much more closely linked than most siblings. This foreshadows the story ending; they were together in
birth, and so they will be together in death.

The Narrator
-Usher’s childhood friend
-An enigmatic and anonymous character
-The first outsider to visit the mansion

Madeline
-Roderick’s twin sister
-A victim of catalepsy (muscular rigidity and lack of contact with the environment
Assessment
Roderick claims that he and his twin sister Madeline share a special connection, one that others would scarcely
understand. They share a sort of extra-sensory bond and are actually two halves of the same person. Another
theory involves far less psychology and far more revenge; it is possible that Roderick knew Madeline was
alive when he asked the narrator for help in entombing her.
Which scenario do you support, the awareness of Roderick that his sister is still alive when he buries her,
or his certainty that she is really dead while entombing her? Cite text evidence to support your answer.
Answer Key
Analyze this quotation from The Fall of the House of Usher in connection to the Usher family and
relate it to Roderick’s personality in relation to his physical appearance, connection to his home
and the perspective of society to such individuals who seclude themselves from the outside
world.

Usher and his sister live on their family's long-held estate. According to the quotation,
The Ushers are gifted in art and music. This background, too, makes the Usher family
seem other-worldly – their world is the fictional world of art and music, not of reality.
Roderick is the last descendant of a direct lineage and heir of the fortune and estate,
as he has no children. He has allowed his home and land to fall into decay. He doesn't
leave his house and he has no friends. The only person he counts as a friend is the
protagonist, whom he has neither seen nor communicated with since childhood.
Society often looks at friendless, awkward people who choose to stay single and who
decide to seclude themselves at home as different or strange, and Poe's story plays
on that societal view of people who live in seclusion.