The Tell-Tale Heart
Who wrote "The Tell-Tale Heart"?
Edgar Allen Poe
What point of view uses I, me, and my?
First Person
What does perspective mean in literature?
The way a character sees or understands a situation.
What is an unreliable narrator?
A narrator whose version of events cannot be fully trusted.
What part of the old man bothers the narrator?
His eye (vulture eye).
What point of view uses he, she, and they but reveals only one character's thoughts?
Third Person
True or false: Two characters can experience the same event but have different perspectives.
True
True or false: Every first-person narrator is unreliable.
False
Where does the narrator hide the old man's body?
Beneath the floorboards.
What point of view reveals the thoughts and feelings of multiple characters?
Third-person omniscient.
How does the narrator view the old man's eye?
He sees it as frightening or disturbing.
What does the narrator repeatedly insist about his mental state?
That he is not insane.
Why does the narrator confess to the police?
He believes he hears the old man's heart beating.
Identify the POV: "Sarah was nervous about her test, but her teacher knew she would pass."
Third-person omniscient.
How might the old man's perspective of the narrator differ from the narrator's perspective of himself?
The old man might see him as dangerous, while the narrator believes he is clever and reasonable.
Why might readers question whether the narrator actually hears the old man's heartbeat?
The old man is dead, so the sound may be imagined.
What does the beating heart most likely symbolize?
His guilt.
Why is first-person POV important in The Tell-Tale Heart?
It allows readers to experience the narrator's thoughts directly and question whether he is telling the truth.
How would The Tell-Tale Heart change if the police officers told the story?
Readers would see events from the officers' perspective instead of hearing the narrator's thoughts.
Give two reasons the narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart is unreliable.
He claims to be sane despite his disturbing behavior, and he believes he hears a dead man's heart beating.