Recapping Edgar Allan Poe

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 3

Recapping Edgar Allan Poe

Goal: to revise EAP's stories, genres, themes and symbolisms used.

The Tell Tale Heart

What is the story of the 'Tell Tale Heart' about? Use three sentences max.

What is the Tell Tale Heart's genre?

1. Fantasy
2. Non-fiction
3. Gothic fiction
4. Science fiction

What characterises gothic fiction?
Include an example from the story.

snapped minds

crypt-like spaces

actual crypts

death 

dismemberment

fear

the extremes of human behaviour

a juxtaposition of the sacred and profane

Which themes were present in the story?

1. Madness & sanity
2. Time
3. Guilt
4. Darkness

Choose one of the themes from the last slide and explain it shorty in accordance with the story.

Which two symbols can be found in the story?

1. vulture eye
2. guilt
3. the night light/candle
4. the heart of the dead man

Explain which POV is used in the story and whether you, as a reader, can trust the narrator's POV. Explain.

First person POV

You cannot trust the narrator's POV because he is mad. 

The Cask of Amontillado

In three sentences, explain the story of the Cask of Amontillado.

Gothic elements

death

fear

extreme human behaviour

villain vs victim

dark setting (in the cellar/crypt)

Name a similarity regarding the gothic elements from both stories

death TTH: old man is murdered, COA: rival is masoned/murdered and left for dead in the crypt. 

fear: TTH: narrator is scared of being busted and therefore confesses his crime, whereas in COA 

extreme human behaviour: in both stories, murdered someone who the narrator had a "problem" with. 

villain vs victim

Unreliable narrator in both stories

Edgar Allan Poe uses irony in this story. Explain how he utilises it, using an example from the story.

What is a dissimilarity when comparing the stories?

1. murder
2. fear
3. time
4. unreliability

Choose either fear or time from the previous slide and explain how it is dissimilar to each other

The readers of both story find the revenge as a better reason for killing a person than using the nature of how someone looks as a reason to kill. In “The Tell Tale Heart”, the aspect of fear in the narrator is clearly evident because he fears that the police will hear how the heart of the old man is beating. On the contrary, the narrator in “The Cask of Amontillado” is free from fear because he is sure that no person will ever find out about the killing of the victim because it takes place in a secret environment.

The aftermaths of the murders in the two stories present a point that reveals the contrasts within the two stories. In “The Tell Tale Heart”, the character does not get away with murder. When the police come to search for the body of the old man in the house, the hallucinations of the narrator makes him think that the police are hearing the beating of the heart and it makes to reveal where the body parts are kept. The narrator explains how his heart was beating so fast by saying “…A watch’s minute hand moves more quickly than did mine” (Poe and McKowen 73). After the revelations, the narrator is arrested by the police. However, the character in “The Cask of Amontillado” gets away with the murder because he hides the body of the victim and he does not reveal it to any soul.

What symbols were present in the story?

1. Fortunato's name
2. the wine
3. carnaval outfit
4. catacombs

Choose one of the two symbols from the previous slide and explain what they represent.

Coming lessons

Introduction & analysis of the poem 'The Raven'. 

How to write a paragraph

I understand the general content of both stories.

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I understand what is expected of me regarding the essay and its sources.

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