Heart of the Matter
The narrator says he loved the old man. So what exactly drives him to kill?
What is the “vulture eye,” the pale blue eye with a film over it. It’s not money or anger.
According to Sergeant-Major Morris, what was the point of the spell the old fakir put on the paw?
What is to teach that fate rules people’s lives, and those who interfere with it do so to their sorrow.
Name two things the speaker HEARS on the walk. What kind of mood does these things make you feel?
The lone wolf’s cry, the cricket, the bullfrogs, the owl’s “hoot,” the raven’s “caw,” the horse’s hooves. Students should explain the creepy effect.
Poe uses a LOT of dashes and exclamation points in the last paragraphs of “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Explain what that punctuation makes the narrator sound like.
What is frantic, panicked, out of breath. It mirrors his rising anxiety and the pounding of the heart.
What makes a story or poem “horror”? Give three examples and show them off with one of our readings.
Examples: eerie setting, suspense, fear, supernatural elements, death, darkness, strange sounds.
For seven nights the narrator opens the door and shines a ray of light on the old man, but nothing happens. Why does he wait until the eighth night?
What is the eye was always closed. He says it was the Evil Eye, not the man, that bothered him, so he couldn’t “do the work.”
Mr. White wishes for £200. How does that wish come true, and why is it the cruelest possible way?
What is Herbert dies in the machinery, and the company pays £200 in compensation. The wish is granted, but at the cost of his son’s life.
The speaker brings up the headless horseman. Why would a poet put a famous legend into this poem?
What is it adds a supernatural, spooky element. It builds suspense and ties the Hollow to its folklore.
In paragraph 1, the narrator says his hearing is “acute.” What does acute mean there, and what does it set up for later in the story?
What is keenly perceptive/sharp. It sets up the heartbeat he hears, and it is the first hint of the thing that will betray him.
In both stories, a sound is a big deal (the heartbeat, the knocking). Why are sounds so scary in horror?
What is sounds can be heard but not seen, so the imagination fills in the rest. They build tension and let the characters, and us, dread what’s coming.
The narrator keeps shouting, “Am I mad?” Pick one detail from his story that you would use as evidence he is NOT “calm.” Explain your choice.
What is: chuckling at the old man’s terror, hearing “many things in hell,” the heart growing louder, his raving in front of the police, etc.
Morris warns the Whites over and over, and even throws the paw in the fire. Why do you think the Whites ignore him?
What is they don’t believe it, they treat it as a joke, and they’re curious or tempted by easy riches. Herbert jokes about it. They see Morris as a teller of tall tales.
Describe the setting of the poem in your own words. Which two words or phrases make it feel the most haunted?
What is “dark, gnarled thicket,” “darkened ridge,” “harvest moon,” “graveyard near the church,” and so on, with an explanation.
Define foreshadowing, then give an example from the story you picked (or from “The Monkey’s Paw”). What did it tell us was coming?
What is hints about what will happen later. Examples: Morris’s warnings, Herbert’s joke about “something horrible” on the wardrobe, the paw twisting like a snake, the narrator’s sharpened hearing.
Mr. White ignores a warning, and so does the narrator’s victim, in a sense, because he has no warning. Think about the Whites and the narrator: who is more responsible for their own downfall? Defend your view.
Open-ended. For the Whites: they ignore Morris and then make a second wish. For the narrator: he is so proud of his “perfect” crime that he can’t resist staying in the room and then confesses.
Walk me through the moment he finally confesses. What does he think the police are doing, and what does that tell us about his state of mind?
What is he believes they hear the heartbeat and are mocking him. That shows paranoia and guilt. The sound may only be in his head.
In Part III, Mrs. White is desperate and Mr. White is terrified. Compare how each reacts to the knocking at the door. What is each one afraid of or hoping for?
What is she hopes only for her boy and has forgotten the danger. He fears what Herbert has become, since his body was mutilated. Grief makes her blind, and dread makes him see clearly.
Read the last stanza again. The speaker says there are “no ghosts, of course,” right as hooves approach. Is the speaker brave, in denial, or fooling themselves? Defend your answer.
Open-ended. Strong answers point out the contrast between the speaker’s words and the sound of the horse. Either “reassuring themselves” or “ironic dread” can work.
The Whites’ wish for £200 comes true by taking their son. Explain why that is irony. Then name one other ironic moment in “The Tell-Tale Heart.”
What is the Whites get what they asked for in a horrible way. For Poe, the narrator’s careful cover-up fails because he confesses, even though the police were satisfied.
Choose one theme that applies to BOTH stories (for example: guilt, greed, fate, curiosity, the danger of ignoring warnings). Use one detail from each story to prove it.
Strong answers connect a clear theme to specific evidence from each text.
Is the heartbeat real, or is it all in his head? Take a side and back it up with at least one detail from the story.
What is either side works if it’s supported. For “in his head”: the officers never react, and he first mistook it for ringing in his own ears. For “real”: his hearing is “acute” and the narrator insists it grew louder.
The story ends with an empty road and no explanation. What do you think the third wish was, and why did the author leave it a mystery?
What is most likely that Herbert would go away or return to the dead. Leaving it unspoken lets the reader’s imagination supply something scarier than the author could, and it reinforces the theme.
The poem never says whether the speaker makes it home. Create a one-sentence ending for the poem, then explain whether it would make the poem scarier or less scary.
Creative and open-ended. Look for a connection to the mood the poet built and to the effect of an unresolved ending.
Pick one story and explain how the author builds suspense, using a specific technique such as repetition, slow pacing, or description of sounds. Give an example.
What is Poe: he repeats “very, very slowly” and describes the hour-long door opening. Jacobs: the knocks, the matches falling, Mr. White groping for the paw on the floor.
The narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart” and Mr. White in “The Monkey’s Paw” both make choices they can’t take back. Compare the two. Which one do you think is more to blame for what happens, and why? Use at least one detail from each story.
Sample answer: Open-ended, but it needs a claim plus evidence from both texts. For the narrator: he plans the murder carefully, then chooses to sit on the spot where the body is hidden and ends up confessing. For Mr. White: he keeps the paw after Morris warns him, then makes a second wish to undo the first. Strong answers weigh planning and intent against ignoring warnings, and they say who had more control over the outcome.