The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
Introducing the Story
Literary Focus: Unreliable Narrator
Reading Skills: Drawing Conclusions
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The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. . . .
The Cask of AmontilladoIntroducing the Story
Lured away from the festivities of carnival by the promise of a fine wine, Fortunato takes an ill-fated journey into the depths of Montresor’s family catacombs.
Are you willing to follow along as Fortunato is led through the dark, dank tunnels by a madman bent on revenge?
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Writers sometimes assume a persona—a mask or a voice for a first-person narrator.
When you read a story told by a first-person narrator, always ask yourself if you can trust the narrator.
The Cask of AmontilladoLiterary Focus: Unreliable Narrator
An unreliable narrator may not always know the whole truth or may purposely choose to deceive us.
The Cask of AmontilladoLiterary Focus: Unreliable Narrator
• actions
• statements
• voice—distinctive style of speaking
• diction—word choice
• tone—attitude
To determine whether a narrator is reliable or not, pay attention to his or her
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When you read a story, you gather evidence and draw conclusions, or make judgments, based on that evidence.
The Cask of AmontilladoReading Skills: Drawing Conclusions
To decide if Poe’s narrator is reliable, look closely
•at what the narrator says and does
•at what Fortunato, the narrator’s enemy, says
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