"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe
What is it about the old man that scares and angers the narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart”?
What is the old man's pale eye
What does Mrs. Stevenson overhear when attempting to call her husband's office?
A murder plot for 11PM that night in New York.
What does the reader infer Patrick tells Mary at the beginning of the story?
Patrick is leaving Mary
Why does Mr. Tabor ask Mrs. Haley to drive Eunice? What had happened?
Mrs. Tabor had been murdered, and they never found her killer
Exposition-What is the setting of the story, and why is it spooky?
Urban, large city in 1980–2000, and in a high-rise building. The setting is spooky because elevators are enclosed spaces.
Where does the narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart” hide the old man's body?
Under the floorboards
What character traits are used to describe Mrs. Stevenson?
Situational irony occurs when an event in a story turns out to be the exact opposite of what the reader had expected. What examples of situational irony are present in LTTS?
Situational Irony: Mary loves her husband, but then “Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head.”
What things about Eunice strike Mrs. Haley as peculiar?
Eunice's hairy knuckles, fingernails, and lack of fragrance.
What is Martin like, and what is his relationship with his father like?
Martin and his father have a troubled relationship where Martin tries to please his father, and his father feels he is timid, wimpy, and weak.
How is the crime exposed?
The narrator is driven further into insanity as the heartbeats grow louder. Finally, he becomes convinced that the police can also hear the noise and are mocking him. He admits to the crime by suddenly shouting, “I admit the deed!—tear up the planks! here, here!—It is the beating of his hideous heart!” (Pg. 85)
What is the confusion in the story?
The confusion in the story is Mrs. Stevenson overhears two men planning to commit a murder on a phone call that does not appear to be intended for her, but she does not know who is perpetrating this crime or the victim.
Roald Dahl wants us to sympathize with Mary and identify with her. List two ways Dahl makes Mary Maloney a sympathetic character.
1. Mary's expecting a child
2. The fact that Mary loved her Patrick.
3. The remorse Mary feels for the crime.
Who was Eunice, really?
John Tabor, husband of an earlier victim.
What is the major conflict in the story? How was it resolved?
Martin is afraid of elevators and doesn’t want to be in one with the fat lady. We don’t know how/if the conflict is resolved.
Why does the narrator finally confess to the murder?
He thinks the officers hear the heartbeat and are mocking him.
Who murders Mrs. Stevenson?
George
What do you think was the author’s intention in not revealing what Patrick says to Mary that makes her so upset? How does this affect readers?
By not knowing what Patrick tells Mary, readers are thrown into a state of confusion and disorientation. They don’t quite understand what is happening. This mirrors the emotions of Mary in that moment who is also confused and disoriented by her husband’s shocking words/ behavior. This causes readers to feel what Mary is feeling and to sympathize with her more because of it.
Who are the protagonist and antagonist in the story?
Protagonist: Madge Antagonist: Bob
Why did Sleator chose to end the story the way he did?
To develop suspense/make us imagine multiple endings.
What is the meaning of the title?
Correct Answers Include:
The beating of the old man's heart forces the narrator to confess the tale of his murder.
The heartbeat, or the narrator’s guilty conscience, forces him to tell the tale of his murderous deed.
What discovery has left Mrs. Stevenson breathless?
The realization that her husband is “leaving for Boston at 11 pm for urgent business” leaves her breathless.
What example of dramatic irony do we see in "Lamb to the Slaughter?"
The reader knows the detectives are eating the murder instrument, but the detectives do not know.
What was ironic about this story?
Madge thought that Mr. Tabor was the killer, but he turned out to be her savior by killing Bob, who actually was intending to murder her.
What is the point of view in the story? Limited or omniscient?
What is third person limited