Exposition
The Spanish city that the story takes place in
What is Toledo?
The narrator is almost struck by this crescent blade
What is the Pendulum?
What the narrator does before almost falling into the abyss
What is screaming?
This foreign army enters and takes control of the prison
What is the French Army?
The story is written in this narrative point of view.
What is first person?
The crime that the narrator is (heavily implied to be) imprisoned for
What is heresy against the Catholic Church?
After drinking drugged water, the narrator wakes up bound to a wooden frame by this material.
What is a leather band?
Immediately after escaping the pendulum, the metal walls of the cell glow because of this.
What is intense heat/fire?
The defeat of the Spanish signals the end of this (real) historical institution of religious persecution
What is the Spanish Inquisition?
The story is written in this style (Classicism, Fantasy, Romaticism, etc.)
What is Naturalism?
Upon waking in total darkness, the narrator initially fears he is going to die this way
What is being buried alive?
These creatures chew through the strap to free the narrator
What are Rats?
The narrator is saved by this French general
Who is General Lasalle?
The falling action lasts for only this many sentences at the very end of the story
What is one (or two) sentences?
The story is historically inaccurate because of these elements. (Two answers, you only need one)
What are torture devices? / What is General Lasalle?