Vocabulary in Context
In paragraph 1, the narrator describes his hearing as “acute.”
What is “keenly perceptive” or “extremely sensitive”? (paragraph 1)
What point of view is The Tell-Tale Heart told from?
What is first-person?
What is suspense in literature?
What is “the feeling of anxious uncertainty about what will happen next”? (demonstrated in paragraphs 4–7)
What does the heartbeat represent?
What is the narrator’s guilty conscience? (paragraphs 18–19)
What nightly ritual does the narrator perform before the murder?
What is quietly opening the old man’s door and watching him sleep? (paragraph 4)
In paragraph 4, the word “profound” is used.
What is “deeply felt or intense”? (paragraph 4)
Name one reason the narrator might be considered unreliable.
What is he insists he is sane despite describing obsessive and violent thoughts/actions?
In paragraph 2, the description of the old man’s “eye” creates which element?
What is suspense? (paragraph 2)
How does the symbol of the eye connect to the narrator’s obsession?
What is it triggers his irrational hatred and compulsion to kill? (paragraphs 2–3)
On which night does the narrator finally commit the crime?
What is the eighth night? (paragraph 8)
In the phrase “vulture eye,” what part of a vulture’s appearance is the narrator comparing to the old man?
What is the pale, filmy appearance of the eye? (paragraph 2)
Which pronouns clue the reader into the point of view?
What are “I,” “me,” “my”? (paragraph 1 and throughout)
How does Poe build suspense in paragraph 4 when the narrator cannot commit the murder for seven nights?
What is the narrator’s nightly ritual of watching the old man without acting, building tension? (paragraph 4)
True or False: The heartbeat symbolizes guilt or conscience. Explain.
What is True—because the louder it gets, the more his guilt grows until he confesses. (paragraphs 18–19)
What steps does the narrator take to hide the body?
What is cutting it into pieces and placing them under the floorboards? (paragraph 13)
Which meaning of “acute” relates to the narrator’s perception, not shape or pitch?
What is “sharp or highly sensitive perception”? (paragraph 1)
How does the narrator’s tone in the final scene change?
What is it becomes frantic and desperate as guilt overwhelms him? (paragraphs 17–19)
What is ironic about the narrator claiming he loves the old man but still kills him?
What is that his supposed affection contrasts with his violent actions? (paragraphs 2–3, 8)
What theme is suggested by the narrator’s eventual confession?
What is guilt will always reveal itself? (paragraph 19)
How does the narrator treat the police when they first arrive?
What is he acts confident and inviting, offering them to search while he chats pleasantly? (paragraphs 14–15)
When Poe uses “profound night,” what does the narrator mean?
What is “complete and utter darkness”? (paragraph 4)
Identify one statement that seems exaggerated or unbelievable.
What is the claim that he could hear the old man’s heartbeat from beneath the floorboards? (paragraphs 15–19)
Identify one unexpected event that contrasts with what the reader anticipates.
What is the narrator calmly chatting with police while the body is hidden beneath them? (paragraphs 14–17)
Which symbol best represents the narrator’s mental state—eye, heartbeat, or darkness?
What is the heartbeat, because it shows his inner torment and inability to escape guilt? (paragraphs 18–19)
What event causes the narrator to confess?
What is the sound of the heartbeat growing so loud in his mind that he believes the officers hear it and are mocking him? (paragraphs 18–19)