Poe background links
Poe Brain Pop
Poe's bio video
Bizarre facts about Poe video
The strange and mysterious death of Poe video
Poe’s gravesite visitor “Poe Toaster”
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
The Black Cat
The Tell-Tale Heart
- Tell Tale Heart
- Tell Tale Heart Video (10 minutes in length)
- Course Hero video
The Pit and the Pendulum
- https://poestories.com/read/
pit - The Pit and the Pendulum
- The Pit and the Pendulum - children's book version
- Pit and the Pendulum audio file
- The Pit and the Pendulum Rap (Youtube link) - 5 minutes
- Pit and the Pendulum video - 15 minutes
- The Pit and the Pendulum (video - Youtube - 4 minutes)
- The Pit and the Pendulum Alternate Ending
At the end of “The Pit & The Pendulum��, the Prisoner narrowly escapes death and is saved by General LaSalle’s French Army.
Your job is to write an alternate ending- change the ending of this story in a new, creative way that still sounds like Poe and in his style (gothic, horrifying, grotesque, bizarre)
•Requirements:
•Be Gothic Fiction (gothic, horrifying, grotesque, bizarre)
•The new ending must begin when the searing hot room becomes a diamond shape, closing in on the Prisoner
•Minimum length: 3 paragraphs (min. 15 sentences)
•Be very detailed with at least 3 high level descriptive words and underline those words
•Use as many of your vocabulary words as possible
•Fewer than 3 spelling and punctuation mistakes
Cask of Amontillado
The Cask of Amontillado (student level version)
The Cask of Amontillado (Youtube video) - 15 minutes
The Cask of Amontillado (original Poe story)
Annabel Lee
The Raven
The Raven read by Christopher Lee
Course Hero The Raven - video
The Raven pdf digital copy
The Raven for kids - digital interactive version
Edgar Allan Poe's Headstone Assignment
Obituary template
Fall of the House of Usher
Fall of the House of Usher teacher guide
The Raven ANTICIPATION GUIDE Warm Up
Statement |
Agree |
Disagree |
When someone or something you love dies, you will never get over your loss. |
||
People who survive or live after a loved one dies, should suffer “survivor’s guilt” |
||
Animals or pets should ease your pain, not make your pain worse |
||
Poe deserved to suffer or be depressed after his wife’s death because he married her when she was too young and that’s karma |
Cask of Amontillado ANTICIPATION GUIDE Warm Up
Statement |
Agree |
Disagree |
If someone wrongs you, you deserve to get revenge. |
||
It’s OK to take the law into your own hands. |
||
People who are insane always know that they are insane. |
||
No one attacks me and gets away with it |
Annabel Lee ANTICIPATION GUIDE Warm Up
Statement |
Agree |
Disagree |
True love lasts even after death. |
||
Someone is “wrong” for moving on after the death of a loved one (remarrying or falling in love again) |
||
When someone dies, you should stay busy and not focus on your grief or their death |
||
|
Fall of the House of Usher ANTICIPATION GUIDE Warm Up
Statement |
Agree |
Disagree |
Family dynamics determine a person’s fate |
||
Childhood friendships are the most meaningful relationships one can have |
||
Our dreams reveal our truest desires |
||
Anyone is capable of having a nervous breakdown |
Tell-Tale Heart ANTICIPATION GUIDE Warm Up
Statement |
Agree |
Disagree |
It is possible to feel someone watching you, even if you can't see that person. |
||
It is possible to be temporarily insane. |
||
It is possible to lie so well that neither how you act nor what you say will give you away. |
||
When you’ve done something wrong, it’s agony to wonder if you’ll be caught |
||
Everyone feels guilty at some point in their life |
POE Headstone Project Rubric
Paragraph One:
- His Name (spelled correctly)
- Age at death
- Date of birth (month, date, year)
- Date of death (month, date, year)
- Location of death (city, state)
Paragraph Two
- Preceded in death by (who died before him)
- His Mother –
- His Wife –
- His Adopted Mother -
- His Adopted Father –
- Survived by (who lived after he died)
- His Fiancé – (First Name, Maiden Name, Last Name
- His Aunt – (First and Last Name)
Paragraph Three
- Famous works/Info about his life (put title and include publication date)
- The Tell-Tale Heart
- The Pit and the Pendulum
- The Raven
- Annabel Lee
- Black Cat
- The Cask of Amontillado
Tell-Tale Heart Anticipation Guide
Directions: Part B – First, read and copy the following statements and decide whether you agree or disagree with them, placing a check mark in the correct column. After we’ve read the story, go back and decide if the author agrees or disagrees with these same statements.
1. People who are insane always know that they are insane.
2. Sane people sometimes imagine that they hear things.
3. If you commit a major crime, sooner or later you will be caught.
4. When you’ve done something wrong, it’s agony to wonder if you’ll be caught.
5. All people share the same fears (i.e., the same things frighten all people.)
Tell-Tale Heart Guided Questions
P. 523 What have you learned in the exposition (focus on the 2nd paragraph)?
P. 523 How does the narrator describe himself?
P. 524 Illustration: What details of the scene in the picture might make you nervous, as the narrator is?
P. 524 In what way is the tension increasing?
P. 525 Why is it important that the light shine directly on the eye and nowhere else?
P. 525 What is the narrator’s intention toward the old man? Why?
P. 526 Do you predict that the author will be this calm throughout the rest of the story? Why or Why not?
P. 526 Illustration: What part of the story does this drawing illustrate?
P. 527 Will the police officers discover the crime? Explain.
P. 527 What new conflict is introduced here?
P. 527 What sound does the speaker hear?
Review and Assess Thinking About the Literature P. 528
1. Respond: At which point did you find the narrator most frightening?
a) Recall: In order, retell the steps of the narrator’s plan.
b) Analyze: Why does the narrator enjoy going through the steps of his plan each night?
c) Contrast: Contrast the narrator’s opinion of himself with his opinion of the old man.
a) Recall: Why does the narrator kill the old man?
b) Draw Conclusions: What does the narrator fear?
c) Support: What details in the story indicate his fears?
a) Recall: How does the narrator behave in the presence of the police?
b) Draw Conclusions: What aspects of the narrator’s behavior prove that he is insane?
c) Analyze: How would the story be different if the events in it were told by a police officer?
a) Recall: What sound drives the narrator to confess the crime?
b) Apply: Why do you think people sometimes confess or admit to having done something wrong, even if there is little chance that their wrongdoing will be discovered?
c) Extend: The “Tell-Tale Heart” in the title might be the old man’s heart—or it might be narrator’s heart. Offer a brief explanation for both interpretations. Then, tell which interpretation you prefer and why.
6. Take a Position: Do you think the narrator should be put in prison or in a mental hospital for the criminally insane? Explain.
Edgar Allan Poe Quiz – Mrs. Patty
A Tale-Tell Heart
Why did the “mad” man HAVE to kill the old man? _____________________________________
What did he do with the body/corpse (as he murdered him and after the fact)?
______________________________________________________________________________
How was he caught? ____________________________________________________________
The Pit and the Pendulum
Why does the man black out after eating/drinking? ____________________________________
What cuts the rope swinging the pendulum? _________________________________________
What happens to the man at the end? _______________________________________________
The Raven
How does the narrator first explain how the Raven can talk?
The raven must be a spirit c. He must have misunderstood the raven
The raven is a prophet d. A previous owner taught it to speak
Which of the following statements best expresses the central idea of the Raven?
The raven will never leave the chamber c. The poet will never sleep again
The poet will grieve Lenore’s death forever d. A talking raven is a symbol of madness
What happened to the narrator’s love, Lenore?
She was killed c. She committed suicide
Name ________________________________________________ Date _______________________ Date
She left him d. She died of unknown causes
Edgar Allan Poe’s Life
Write a brief description of Edgar Allan Poe (his life, background, history, age at death, writing style, etc). _____________________________________________________________________
The Raven (quiz with key)
The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
Identify the following with quotes/text from The Raven:
Rhyme - ________________________________________________________________
Alliteration - _____________________________________________________________
Onomatopoeia - __________________________________________________________
Repetition - ______________________________________________________________
Personification - __________________________________________________________
Assonance - _____________________________________________________________
Figurative Language - _____________________________________________________
The Raven - Reading Comprehension Questions
1. What does the narrator first think of the raven?
a. He is scared.
b. He is intrigued.
c. He is angry that it won't leave.
d. He is happy that it takes his mind off Lenore.
2. What does the reader know is true about the narrator?
a. He is insane.
b. He was once engaged to Lenore.
c. He is afraid of ghosts.
d. He has had friends leave him.
3. What does the narrator order the raven to do in the second-to-last stanza?
a. leave
b. speak
c. stay
d. bring Lenore back
4. Which of the following does the narrator ask the raven?
a. Will you leave me tomorrow?
b. Who sent you?
c. Will I be reunited with Lenore?
d. Are you a bird or devil?
5. What is the narrator doing to forget his sorrows over losing Lenore?
a. napping
b. reading
Name _______________________________________________ Date ________________________
c. drinking
d. nothing
6. How does the narrator first explain how the raven can talk?
a. The raven must be a spirit.
b. The raven is a prophet.
c. He must have misunderstood the raven.
d. A previous owner taught it to speak.
7. The phrase “the lamplight gloated o’er” is an example of what kind of figurative
language?
a. personification
b. metaphor
c. hyperbole
d. simile
8. Which of the following statements best expresses the central idea of “The Raven”?
a. The raven will never leave the chamber.
b. The poet will grieve Lenore’s death forever.
c. The poet will never sleep again.
d. A talking raven is a symbol of madness.
9. The first line of each stanza
a. rhymes with the last line of the stanza.
b. rhymes with the third line of the stanza.
c. contains a rhyme with the last word of the line.
d. always ends with the word “nevermore.”
10. What happened to the narrator's love, Lenore?
a. She was killed.
b. She left him.
c. She committed suicide.
d. She died of unknown causes.
Name _______________________________________________ Date ________________________
The Raven Answer Key
1. B
2. D
3. A
4. C
5. B
6. D
7. A
8. B
9. C
10. D
Tell Tale Heart by Poe
- Dreadfully - extremely, terribly, awfully, tremendously, exceptionally
- Acute - present or experienced to a severe or intense degree.
- Healthily - possessing or enjoying good health
- Cunningly - skill employed in a shrewd or sly manner; deceiving, crafty, deceptive
- Inquiring - showing an interest in learning new things; to investigate
- Sagacity - ability to understand and discriminate between relations; sound judgment
- Unperceived - unobserved; unnoticed; unremarked
- Crevice - a narrow opening; a long, tight space; often resulting from a crack or split
- Gaily - cheerful or lighthearted
- Reposed - lie down to rest; lying, situated in a particular place
Cask of Amontillado Words
- Aperture - opening, hole, gap, space
- Motley - the particolored costume of a jester; diverse group of people or things; wild
- Jest - a thing said or done for amusement; a joke; speak or act in a joking manne
- Impunity - getting away with something; not punished for doing something; exemption from punishment
- Catacombs - setting of Cask of Amontillado; an underground cemetery consisting of a subterranean gallery with recesses for tombs
- Surmounted - overcome, stand or be placed on top of
- Rapier- a thin, light, sharp-pointed sword used for thrusting.
- Gesticulation - a gesture, especially a dramatic one, used instead of speaking or to emphasize one's words; using your hands when you talk
- Crypt - an underground room or vault beneath a church, used as a chapel or burial place; burial chamber; small recess or pit
- Utterance - speaking out loud; a spoken word, statement, or vocal sound.
The Raven Vocabulary
Surcease—to cease
Implore—to beg urgently or piteously
Lattice—crossed wooden or metal strips, or the form of a window
Obeisance—a movement of the body expressing a deep respect or a deferential courtesy
Mien—air, bearing or demeanor, as showing character
Pallas—also known as Athena
Craven—cowardly, contemptably timid
Plutonian—infernal
Seraphim—members of the highest orders of angels (usually with a child’s head and wings)
Quaff--to drink a beverage, especially an intoxicating one, copiously and with hearty enjoyment.
Nepenthe—a drug or drink mentioned by ancient writers as having the power to bring about forgetfulness of sorrow or trouble
Balm in Gilead—a Biblical healing substance
Aidenn—another spelling for Eden
Pallid—pale