Character Psychology
Roderick’s illness affecting his mind and body
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DISORDER
NERVOUS DISORDER
In The Fall of the House of Usher, Roderick Usher suffers from a mysterious condition that affects both his mental and physical health. Poe describes him as extremely sensitive to light, sound, and emotion, while also displaying anxiety, paranoia, and depression.
The general feeling created by the setting at the start of the story
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GLOOM
The action taken after Madeline’s supposed death
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BURIAL
The Usher house represents the family’s condition
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DECLINE
The story is told from this point of view
First-Person
His extreme reaction to light, sound, and texture; a phrase coined and popularized by Edgar Allan Poe
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ACUTENESS OF THE SENSES
MORBID ACUTENESS OF THE SENSES
In The Fall of the House of Usher, Roderick’s morbid acuteness of the senses shows his extreme sensitivity to light, sound, and touch, heightening his fear and the story’s eerie atmosphere.
The emotion readers feel because of the dark, decaying environment
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DREAD
The mistake that allows Madeline to return
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PREMATURE BURIAL
Roderick and the narrator buried Madeline alive by mistake, a premature burial that allows her to return and shock Roderick to death, highlighting Poe’s theme of fear intertwined with human error.
The crack in the house represents a hidden problem
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WEAKNESS
The literary genre of the story
GOTHIC HORROR
The story belongs to Gothic horror because it uses dark settings, psychological terror, decay, and madness to create fear, not just frightening events.
Horror is not enough because it only tells us the story is meant to frighten or disturb.
His belief (n.) that the house is alive shows this mental state
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PARANOIA
Roderick is paranoid because his fragile mind and family history of illness make him see the house as alive, turning his surroundings into a source of fear.
The repeated quality of the setting that suggests nothing is alive
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LIFELESSNESS
The event that directly causes Roderick’s death
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MADELINE'S RETURN
Madeline represents the idea Roderick tries to suppress
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DEATH
What technique involves revealing information through hints rather than direct explanation?
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Ex.
As the narrator approaches the Usher mansion, he notices a thin crack running from the roof down to the foundation. Though the house still stands, the fissure suggests hidden weakness. The narrator dismisses it at first, but the image lingers, quietly hinting that both the house and the Usher family are on the verge of collapse.
FORESHADOWING
The narrator notices that Roderick’s emotions are unusually tied to his surroundings, showing this trait
H
HYPERSENSITIVITY
Roderick’s moods shift with the dim light, strange sounds, and eerie textures of the mansion, revealing his hypersensitivity to his surroundings.
The time of year when the narrator arrives at the Usher house which adds to the story’s ominous feeling
AUTUMN - Autumn is often considered gloomy because it symbolizes decay, endings, and the approach of winter
The physical event that ends the story
(any phrase similar to the correct answer will do)
HOUSE COLLAPSE or
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER
The lake mirrors the house, acting as this device
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REFLECTION
Poe builds fear by slowly revealing thoughts, fears, and emotions instead of action. This technique is called—
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PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR
The psychological condition that best explains Roderick’s actions
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MADNESS
Roderick’s extreme fears, paranoia, and erratic behavior throughout the story reveal his madness, explaining his disturbed actions and mental instability.
The emotional effect that warns readers something bad will happen
Ex.
The house appears silent and lifeless, yet it gives off an uneasy feeling, as if it is watching and waiting. Even before entering, the narrator senses that the building itself is connected to decay, fear, and an unavoidable doom.
Clue:
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FOREBODING
The underlying cause behind all the destruction; the taint that Roderick claims causes their curse
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HEREDITARY EVIL
Roderick believes that the Ushers suffer from a hereditary evil, an ancestral malady that brings about their mental collapse and the mansion’s ultimate destruction.
The fissured, decaying part of the Usher house mirrors the cracks in the family line and the instability of Roderick’s mind.
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CEILING
Poe’s young wife, whose early death influenced the dark and tragic themes in many of his works
VIRGINIA CLEMM