Plot
At the beginning of the story, what does the narrator do?
a. He listens to Usher's improvisations on the guitar
b. He travels with Usher to visit Usher's family home
c. He travels to visit Usher at Usher's family home
d. He helps Usher bury Usher's sister in a vault
C. He travels to visit Usher at Usher's family home
What is the definition of fissure based on this quote:
"Perhaps the eye of a scrutinizing observer might have discovered a barely perceptible fissure, which extending from the roof of the building..."
A long, narrow crack or opening
What is the most likely reason the narrator says the letter "admitted of no other than a personal reply"?
a. The narrator feels obliged to respond to his friend's request for a visit because his friend is clearly upset
b. The narrator is worried that it will seem rude if he does not answer the letter in a personal way
c. The narrator hopes his friend will invite him to stay in the distant part of the country where his friend lives
d. The narrator believes that his friend is threatening to harm him if he does not give the right answer
A. The narrator feels obliged to respond to his friend's request for a visit because his friend is clearly upset
What paragraph does the song shift or change?
a. Paragraph 22
b. Paragraph 24
c. Paragraph 23
d. Paragraph 20
C. Paragraph 23
What is the name of the title and author of the story that the narrator reads to Usher during the storm?
a. Mad House by Sir Launcelot Canning
b. Mad Trist by Sir Launcelot Canning
c. Ethelred's Journey by Sir Canning Lopez
d. Ethelred's Adventure by Roderick Usher
B. Mad Trist by Sir Launcelot Canning
Which of the following is the most accurate description of what happens to Madeline Usher?
a. She dies, is buried by her brother, but then returns to life to terrorize her brother and the narrator
b. She appears to die, is mistakenly entombed, but then revives and forces her way to freedom before dying
c. She pretends to die, is taken for death and is buried, but then emerges from her crypt to destroy the house
d. She nearly dies, recovers through a doctor's help, but then is thrown into an underground cell by her brother
B. She appears to die, is mistakenly entombed, but then revives and forces her way to freedom before dying
If a storm were to annihilate a building, which of the following would most likely be the result?
a. The building would have part of its roof torn off
b. The building would have damage but would remain intact
c. The building would be reduced to small fragments
d. The building would be removed from its foundation
C. The building would be reduced to small fragments
Which details of the house's interior seem to reflect Usher's appearance and the condition of his mind?
a. Usher's confused behavior is reflected in the broken mirrors
b. Usher's self-assurance and noble manner is reflected in its wealth and splendor
c. Usher's advanced age and old-fashioned ways are reflected in the ancient furnishings
d. Usher's physical and mental deterioration is reflected in the gloomy darkness, lack of comfort, and old, worn out posessions
D. Usher's physical and mental deterioration is reflected in the gloomy darkness, lack of comfort, and old, worn out posessions
What predictions can you make about Usher's home based onthe final two verses of his song?
a. The home will be restored to its former glory
b. The house will become increasingly corrupted, overtaken by darkness and madness
c. The palace has no relation to Usher's actual home
d. The house will always be haunted with no change over time
B. The house will become increasingly corrupted, overtaken by darkness and madness
What is Ethelred trying to do in the story?
a. Rescue a maiden from a dragon
b. Escape from a haunted castle
c. Enter a hermit's dwelling
d. Destroy a cursed book
C. Enter a hermit's dwelling
Which is the most accurate description of the ending?
a. During a storm, the waters of the tarn surrounding the house rise until the house is submerged
b. During a storm, the barely perceptible fissure in the facade of the house widens until the house collapses
c. During a storm, Usher madly rushes about striking the house until its collapse
d. During a storm, Roderick and Madeline struggle so madly that they cause the collapse of the house
B. During a storm, the barely perceptible fissure in the facade of the house widens until the house collapses
Which of the following is the best example of a tumultuous event?
a. a foggy night that hides the moon
b. a drought that causes crops to wither and die
c. a storm so loud that it is hard to hear others speaking
d. a winter night so cold that snow freezes into ice
C. a storm so loud that it is hard to hear others speaking
Which quote from the story best supports the answer to the house's interior that reflects Usher's appearance and condition of mind?
a. The room in which I found myself was very large and lofty
b. The general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered
c. A small picture presented the interior of an immensely long and rectangular vault or tunnel, with low walls, smooth, white, and without interruption or device
d. Our books– the books which, for years, had formed no small portion of the mental existence of the invalid–were, as might be supposed, in keeping with this character of phantasm
C. A small picture presented the interior of an immensely long and rectangular vault or tunnel, with low walls, smooth, white, and without interruption or device
What is the initial mood of the palace that is described in the beginning part of the poem? List three words to describe.
Words relating to: Bright, joyful, happy, radiant
What strange thing happens as the narrator reads the story?
a. The story magically changes its ending
b. Usher breaks out in song
c. Real sounds in the house match the events in the story
d. A dragon comes into Usher's house
C. Real sounds in the house match the events in the story
Which phrase best describes Usher's state of mind?
a. cautious and glum
b. dull and depressed
c. suspicious and miserable
d. nervous and agitated
C. suspicious and miserable
Which of the following would most likely be considered an antiquity?
a. a vase from ancient times
b. a rusty piece of jewelry
c. a house built in the 1950s
d. a logbook from a space shuttle
A. a vase from ancient times
Which of the following is one of Usher's disturbing ideas?
a. Usher believes that his house has awareness, like a living thing
b. Usher believes that his house will fall apart, sliding into the tarn
c. Usher believes that his sister will die, even though she is healthy
d. Usher believes that the narrator has held a grudge, ever since boyhood
A. Usher believes that his house has awareness, like a living thing
What does the "palace" in the poem represent in the story?
The palace is a reflection of Usher's house as it increasingly becomes more haunted over time and overtaken by darkness
What might the dragon in Ethelred's story symbolize in the context of Usher's house?
a. The narrator's curiosity
b. Madeline's strength and return
c. Usher's imagination and hallucinations
d. The family's lost fortune
B. Madeline's strength and return
What does Usher say is his biggest fear?
a. being frightened to death
b. being accidentally buried alive
c. the death of his sister Madeline
d. the collapse of his family's house
A. being frightened to death
What does dissolution mean according to this quote: "indeed to the evidently approaching dissolution–of a tenderly beloved sister– his sole companion for long years..."
dissolution: ending or downfall
Usher's sister came to her downfall or the end of her life as she died from illness
Which quote best supports Usher's disturbing idea?
a. Although, as boys, we had even intimate associates, yet I really knew little of my friend. His reserve had been always excessive and habitual
b. The belief, however, was connected... with the gray stones of the home of his forefathers. The conditions of the sentience had been here, he imagined, fulfilled in the method of collocation of these stones...
c. "I shall perish:" said [Usher], "I must perish in this deplorable folly. Thus, thus, and not otherwise, shall I be lost. I dread the events of the future, not in themselves, but in their results."
d. One evening, having informed me abruptly that the lady Madeline was no more [Usher] stated his intention of preserving her corpse for a fortnight...
B. The belief, however, was connected... with the gray stones of the home of his forefathers. The conditions of the sentience had been here, he imagined, fulfilled in the method of collocation of these stones...
What does the "palace" in the poem most likely symbolize?
a. A church that has been abandoned
b. A metaphor for the soul or mind
c. A political building overrun by rebels
d. A haunted castle from a fairytale
B. A metaphor for the soul or mind
What effect does the story of Ethelred have on the narrator? How does it make him feel?
It makes him nervous or uneasy because he hears the same noises described in the story