Edgar Allan Poe Literature Project - (E)

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 3,4

The Tell-Tale Heart 

Edgar Allan Poe

• The following lessons will prepare you to write an essay comparing Edgar Allan Poe stories and a poem from several perspectives.
  
  
• The lessons will entail reading and analysing two short stories and one poem together. You will do research along the way.

• Finally, you will write your essay and hand it in to be graded.

The story The tell-tale heart

https://youtu.be/Z_utA6j3Oc8

Gothic Fiction

 Gothic Fiction, according to Shmoop.com, is one of the easiest genres to spot. And it's also one of the most fun to explore, as long as you don't mind taking a walk on the nastier side of life. Snapped minds, crypt-like spaces, actual crypts, death and dismemberment, fear, the extremes of human behavior, a juxtaposition of the "sacred" and the "profane" – these are some of the sure signs you're in a Gothic story, or at least a Gothic moment.

(https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/tell-tale-heart/analysis/genre)

What elements in the story make The Tell-Tale Heart gothic fiction?

insanity

dismemberment

death

fear

extreme human behaviour

Highlights from the19th-century were Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' and the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Other literary wonders are 'Wuthering heights' (1847) van Emily Brontë and her sister Charlotte's 'Jane Eyre' (1847). A later, well-known (Victorian) novel in this genre is Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' from 1897.
Carmilla, by Sheridan Le Fanu was inspired by the same themes with vampires (female), mystery and Romance.

Explain the title:
The Tell-Tale Heart

It's the heart that finally gives the murderer away

Assignment:

Look up information about The Tell-Tale Heart.

Things like: theme, symbolism and narrator point of view.

Also look up information about narrator point of view in general. Write down your findings and bring to class. 

! Write down your sources!

Due: Tuesday 18 May

What have you found about the theme(s) of the story?

Examples:

Madness and sanity: the narrator’s attempt to prove his sanity as he explains his meticulous plans for killing the old man only prove his madness.

The pressure of guilt: though he claims to be innocent and justified in his actions, the narrator’s guilt manifests in the sound of the dead man’s beating heart.

The passage of time: the recurring references to time emphasize the narrator’s obsession with time and its effect on his psyche.

What can you say about the symbolism in the story?

The two main symbols in the story are the "tell-tale heart," which is the heart of the dead and dismembered man that beats so loudly that the guilty murderer can hear it, and the old man's "vulture eye." The heart beating beneath the floor boards represents the narrator's guilt. 

What different narrator's points of view have you found?

First person

Second person

Third person:

- omniscient

- multiple

- limited

- objective

Who is the narrator in The Tell-Tale Heart?

The murderer

What's the irony when it comes to the narrator?

ironic: his own speech betrays himself ( for policemen.

the policemen are villains in his view, but he is actually the villain!

He thinks the policemen make fun of him.

He thinks he is not mad, but the more he explains and to convinces the reader, the reader think he is mad.

Give some examples of why he thinks he is so clever

His description of how he goes into the old man's bedroom every night. Taking an hour to get his head through the door.

The ease with which he convinces the policemen that nothing's the matter.

The Cask of Amontillado 

Edgar Allan Poe

What are some characteristics of gothic literature?

Snapped minds, crypt-like spaces, actual crypts, death and dismemberment, fear, the extremes of human behavior, a juxtaposition of the "sacred" and the "profane"

According to the website (with 10 points) on the next page:

Mystery and fear

Omens and Curses

Villain

www.invaluable.com

Gothic elements in
The Cask of Amontillado

death

fear

extreme human behaviour

dark setting (cellar)

villain - victim

Overview

With the use of the next slides we will be analysing The Cask of Amontillado.

We will focus on:

- Dramatic Irony

- Unreliable Narrator

Ask questions whenever you feel like it.

What are the themes in The Cask of Amontillado?

revenge

pride

disguise (both are wearing carnaval costumes)

What is the setting of the narrative?

1. Carnaval
2. Catacombs
3. Winecellar
4. Somewhere in France

What is 'irony'?

For instance:

incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result -- often opposite

(see example Alanis Morisette's Ironic)

Alanis Morissette's Ironic

Mr. Play-It-Safe was afraid to fly

He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye

He waited his whole damn life to take that flight

And as the plane crashed down he thought

"Well, isn't this nice."

Dramatic Irony

A literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.

Dramatic Irony
in this short story

Perhaps they already know a few. If not, it will be the assignment for next lesson.

Who's the narrator of this short story?

1. Fortunato
2. Edgar Allen Poe
3. Montresor
4. Amontillado

Assignment

Find (more) examples of Dramatic Irony in the text and try to identify signs of the unreliable narrator.

DUE DATE:        Friday 21 May

Dramatic Irony
in this short story

Page 3

"I shall not die of a cough."

"True, true," I replied.

Page 4

"I drink," he said, "to the buried that repose around us."

"And I to your long life."

Page 4

"And the motto?"

"Nemo me impune lacessit."      

"Good!" he said.

--> No one provokes me with impunity.

Page 5

"You are not of the masons."

 

"Yes, yes," I said; "yes, yes."

"You? Impossible! A mason?"

"A mason," I replied.

"A sign," he said, "a sign."

Is Montresor a reliable narrator and if so, why (not)?

www.nownovel.com

www.coursehero.com

www.thepostathens.com

Are there any questions you have left that haven't been answered? What are they?

Do you have any questions left? What are they?