Poe/Raven
Poe is the inventor of this genre
detective fiction
What best describes a central theme of the text?
Love can sometimes be so strong that it cannot be stopped by death.
The Red Death was a fictional plague that Poe created. It was based on:
Bubonic Plague
What best describes a theme of the text?
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
What best describes a central theme of the text?
Loss and grief can have powerful effects on the mind.
What best summarizes how the speaker describes Annabel Lee?
The speaker idealizes her, describing her as beautiful and seemingly having no other purpose than to love him.
What best identifies a major theme in the story?
Death is unavoidable, regardless of one’s wealth or power.
What is the primary motive behind Montresor's actions against Fortunato?
Revenge for an unspecified insult
What best explains the relationship between the speaker and Lenore?
Lenore was the speaker’s lover but she has recently died.
What effect does the nature imagery have on this poem?
It makes nature seem invested in humanity as a constant, as opposed to being indifferent and random, which the speaker fears more than anything.
What does the phrase “untenanted by any tangible form” in paragraph 14 suggest about the intruder?
The intruder has no physical form and therefore cannot be restrained, which makes it similar to death and disease.
What is the significance of Montresor's family motto, "Nemo me impune lacessit"?
It indicates a belief in revenge
How do the allusions made to Pallas (Athena) and Pluto (Hades) inform the character of the raven?
These allusions make the raven seem otherworldly and informs his symbolic nature as a possible messenger from the afterlife.
What does the rhyme scheme reveal about the speaker? (mostly involves words rhyming with Annabel "Lee")
The end rhyme scheme is simple and mostly involves words rhyming with Annabel "Lee"; this suggests that the speaker is still very focused on his relationship with Annabel, and she is never far from his mind.*
The narrator describes the courtiers as resolving “to leave means neither of ingress or egress” in paragraph 2. What does this description reveal about the courtiers’ attitudes?
The courtiers believe that the plague will never make it into the abbey, and in their arrogance they leave no options for escape.
Which element of Gothic literature is most evident in "The Cask of Amontillado"?
A mysterious setting