The Black Cat

Plot Summary

100

What is the name of the narrator's first cat?

The name of the first cat is Pluto. "Pluto - this was the cat's name - was my favourite pet and playmate" (231).

200

What does the narrator do to Pluto?

He gouges out the cat's eye.

300

Who does the narrator begin to treat badly first?

The narrator treats his wife poorly first. "I grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others. I suffered myself to use intemperate language to my wife" (231).

400

How does Pluto die?

Shortly after cutting out his eye, the narrator hangs Pluto from a tree. "One morning, in cool blood, I slipped a noose about its neck and hung it to the limb of a tree" (232).

500

What betrays the narrator to the police and informs them that he has killed his wife?

The narrator had mistakenly sealed the cat inside the wall, and after hearing its voice the police broke down the wall, discovering the body of the narrator's wife. "Upon its head, with red extended mouth and solutary eye of fire, sat the hideous beast whose craft had seduced me into murder, and whose informing voice had consigned me to the hangman. I had walled the monster up within the tomb!" (238).

Cat 1 and Cat 2

100

This cat lost his eye because the narrator claimed he did not greet him properly.

Who is Pluto?

200

A peculiar marking that the second cat had, but not Pluto.  

What is a white patch?

300

This act was done to Pluto in "the spirit of perverseness."  

What is hung him from a tree and killed him?

400

The cat the narrator wanted to kill, but wouldn't because he was afraid.  

Who is the second cat?

500

This happened to Pluto's body after the fire.

What is burned into a wall?

Character Analysis

100

What causes the dramatic shift in the narrator's behavior?

What is alcohol?

200

What does the narrator share his demeanor was like before he started drinking?

What is pleasant? OR  What is friendly?

300

In the first paragraph of the story, what does the narrator keep emphasizing to the reader about his mental state?

What is he is not mad?

400

In what ways does the narrator treat the two cats similarly? In what ways does he treat the cats differently?

What is the narrator mistreats and attempts to kill both cats?  What is the narrator loved Pluto, but strongly disliked the 2nd cat?

500

What is the importance of the white patch of hair on the second cat's neck/chest area?

What are the gallows which is how Pluto was killed?

Vocabulary

100

This word means to be quiet, calm, and easily managed.  

What is docile?

200

This word is a synonym for the fire that occurred at the narrator's home.

What is conflagration?

300

This word means to be short and sweet; expressed in few words.

What is succinct?

400

This word is the opposite of the narrator's mental state in the story.

What is sagacious?

500

Name the part of speech for the word intemperate, and use the word in a sentence.

What is adjective and then give sentence example.

Theme & Purpose

100

Why doesn't Edgar Allen Poe specify the setting of The Black Cat?

What is it is not important because the focus is on psychology?

200

The narrator leads this group of people to the crime scene.

Who are the police?

300

What is the climax of The Black Cat?

What is when the narrator knocks on the brick wall and the cat screams?

400

Which is more important in The Black Cat?  The murders or the narrator's mental state?

What is the narrator's mental state?

500

What type of ending does Edgar Allen Poe leave the reader with in The Black Cat?

What is an ending open to interpretation?