Narrator/Author
According to the narrator, what did the madness do to his senses?
Sharpened them
Why did the narrator want to kill the old man?
the old man's "evil" eye vexed him
How did the narrator kill the old man?
He smothered with the mattress
After the old man was dead, what two acts did the narrator do to conceal the body?
He dismembered it and placed it beneath the floor boards
Read this line from 'The Tell Tale Heart': 'The old man gave a loud cry of fear as I fell upon him and held the bedcovers tightly over his head. Still his heart was beating; but I smiled as I felt that success was near.' Why did the narrator say 'I smiled'?
He did not fear anything and was obsessed with killing the old man
What does the Narrator strongly want readers to believe about his mental health?
That he is not insane
What was ironic about the way the Narrator treated the old man the week before he killed him
he was never kinder to the old man
Why couldn't the narrator kill the old man on the first night?
The eye was closed - the old man was sleeping
Why were the police sent to the house?
a neighbor heard a shriek
Whose heart beat might the narrator be hearing?
His own
Why did the narrator to place his head into the door of the old man's bedroom chamber?
How did the narrator wake the old man?
his finger slipped on the lantern and the noise woke up and startled the old man
How does the Narrator explain the shriek?
What does the beating heart symbolize?
The narrator's guilty conscience
To whom is the narrator telling the story?
Answer will vary:
To the readers, to the police, to another prisoner (it is made like a confession after the fact)
On what night did the narrator commit the murder? Why THIS night?
The Narrator killed the old man on the eighth night because the old man woke up and the Narrator saw his evil eye
What did the old man cry out when he woke up?
'Who's there?'
What room did he have the police sit and rest?
The old man's chamber
Based on the evidence, in your "expert" opinion, is the Narrator insane? Provide THREE reasons to support your answer.
Answers will vary:
1. He calmly and proudly recalls the events before, during and after the murder
2. He is overconfident and has the police sit in chairs that he placed over the dead man's body
3. He dismembered the old man's body
4. He kills the old man because he believes his eye is "evil"
5. He repeatedly tells the audience he is NOT insane
In what era was 'The Tell-Tale Heart' written?
the 1800s
Why didn't the Narrator kill the old man before the eighth night?
How many times did the old man shriek?
Once, and only once
How does the narrator explain the old man's absence?
He is in the country
What are FIVE tension-building strategies used throughout the story?
Repetition, short sentences, punctuation, character thoughts and feelings, imagery and word choice, dramatic irony, etc.