English 11 Short Stories

"The Tell-Tale Heart"

Edgar Allen Poe said that short stories:

  1. can be read in one sitting, and derive their power from the fact the writer has to select details for economy and emphasis;
  2. have a single "effect" or purpose and are constructed so that every sentence from the first to the last one supports that "effect";
  3. leave the reader with a feeling of satisfaction and finality, desiring no further completion or alternative ending;
  4. have their basis in truth (life-likeness).

Questions

1. Why does the narrator lead the police to the old man's room?

Why does he say the police "knew" that the body was hidden there?

Do you agree with his perception? Comment.

2. What is the narrator's motivation for murder? Is it valid? Why or why not?

3. What is the narrator's nervous disease? Have you ever known or heard about someone developing a nervous reaction after doing something he/she felt guilty about? What kind of nervous disorder did the person develop? What happened?

4. What are some of the conflicts in the story? What effect does telling the

story from the narrator's point of view have on the development of the

conflict?

5. What are the two main symbols in the story? What does each one

represent? What is one other symbol Poe might have chosen?

6. What other literary devices did Poe employ in this story ?

 

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