Name: __________________________

“The Tell-Tale Heart” Activities

Answer the following questions using full sentences on a separate sheet of paper. You do not need to provide evidence from the story to support your answers (unless otherwise specified)

1. Title: Based on the title, predict what the story will be about

2. First Paragraph: from whose point of view is this story told?

3. First Paragraph: To whom do you think the narrator is speaking to?

4. First Paragraph: Why does he say, “But why will you say that I am mad?”

5. Second Paragraph: What is the narrator’s problem (Conflict)?

6. 5th paragraph: Write down what you think the author means by “It was impossible for me to do the work”

7. 6th paragraph: Why does the narrator treat

the old man so well in the mornings?

8. 8th paragraph: Why doesn’t the narrator leave when he realizes the old man is awake?

9. 11th Paragraph: what is the sound the narrator hears?

10. 11th Paragraph: Whose heart do you think the narrator is hearing?

11. 13th Paragraph: Who is at the door?

12. Paragraph sixteen and seventeen: What is the noise?

13. Paragraphs sixteen and seventeen: What is the narrator feeling right now?

14. How do/does the story end?

15. Find examples of the following figurative language devices in the story.

Type of figurative language Example & Page #

Metaphor

Personification

Alliteration

Hyperbole

Onomatopoeia

Foreshadowing

16. Define the following parts of speech and provide an example of each from the story

Part of speech Definition Example & Page #

Noun

Pronoun

Adjective

Verb

Adverb

Conjunction

Preposition

interjection

17. Provide examples of sensory details from the story. State the page number each example is found on.

Sight (at least 3)

Touch (at least 3)

Hear (at least 3)

Smell (at least 1, if possible)

Taste (at least 1, if possible)

18. Provide 3 examples where the narrator is trying to establish his sanity and 3 examples where the narrator’s sanity is called into question. Use quotations from the story and include the page number (or paragraph number) where you found the quotation.

SANE INSANE

19. Answer one of the following questions in a formal paragraph. Your paragraph should be at least 100-250 words and include quotations from the story to support your answer. Your paragraph should have a topic sentence/thesis statement to introduce your main argument and a concluding sentence to conclude your paragraph.

Topic 1: How does Poe create mood in his short story “The Tell-Tale Heart”? Use specific examples from the story to support your answer. How does the creation of this mood or atmosphere contribute to the impact of the story?

Topic 2: Is the narrator a reliable narrator? Explain why or why not using specific evidence from the story to support your answer.

An example of a formal paragraph is give on the next page

Theme analysis exampleNotes about this example:

My text evidence is bolded, and my explanations are underlined. (Note how they alternate!) The first sentence is my thesis; it states a theme in an entire phrase. Notice how language is formal (no “I think”) and how present tense verbs are used!

Although there are arguably several themes in the book Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.

K. Rowling, one of them is the importance of bravery. The first piece of evidence is that Harry, the likeable

main character, is brave and willing to take on risks that other people won’t. Some examples of this bravery

are battling the troll in the dungeon, learning to play the dangerous game of Quidditch, and taking the

simple leap of faith by going to Hogwarts and making friends (Rowling, 52, 145 & 149). All of these moments

show Harry repeatedly choosing to be courageous, and they usually end well for him. Second, we know that

Rowling favors bravery because Dumbledore rewards Gryffindor for bravery in the end, which helps them

win the House Cup that year, and specifically praises the bravery of several students in a speech (243). He

clearly favors bravery if he’s willing to reward it, and this mentor figure is indirectly encouraging readers to be

brave too. Finally, Harry’s decision to be in Gryffindor, the house that values bravery, is a clear sign for

multiple reasons (Rowling, 100). Not only did the author decide to make her main character a member of that

house, but she makes Harry choose Gryffindor, which means that she believes bravery is a decision that

anyone can make and not just something humans are born with. Her characterization supports the theme of

the importance of bravery because she wants readers to value it and make the decision to be brave in their

own lives just like her characters do.