Vocabulary
The meaning of "tarn".
What is a small mountain lake?
How would you describe Roderick Usher?
Obsessed with death
Going insane
Fretful
Why did the narrator go to visit his friend?
What is mental illness?
How does the description of the illness affect the tone in paragraph 14?
Creates mystery, suspense, and a sense of unclarity.
The meaning of "hypochondriac".
What is someone who is abnormally anxious about their health?
How does the state of the House of Usher show the state of the Usher family?
The house is crumbling, paralleling in structure to the Usher family.
How did Madeline die?
What is being buried alive?
How does the comparison of Roderick to a drunkard and an “irreclaimable eater of opium” help the reader perceive the effects of Roderick’s condition?
It describes his mania in terms familiar to the reader.
The meaning of "miasma".
What is an unpleasant atmosphere?
How is Roderick Usher described in paragraph 8?
How does the collapse of the House of Usher at the end of the story tie into the prior events?
It represents the fall of the Usher family and the destruction of Roderick and Madeline's bond.
The type of literary device in Roderick's song, specifically paragraph 23.
What is foreshadowing?
What is symbolism?
The meaning of "munificent".
What is very generous?
How would you describe the narrator?
Caring for his friend, who influences him over time
Slightly nostalgic
How does the narrator come to understand his friend’s fear of death more throughout the text?
What is art and quality time together?
The importance of the epigraph.
What is foreshadowing?
The meaning of "boon".
What is a favor?
How would you describe Madeline?
Determined
Positively stubborn
How does Roderick’s fear of death impact the narrator?
It rubs off on him, turning him into a terror-stricken man.
How does the allusion to “The Last Waltz of Von Weber”, or the "Fairy Waltz", show Roderick’s obsession with death?
*turn to Mason*