Name: ____________________________________
“The Cask of Amontillado”
Vocabulary:
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Free Response:
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Literary Analysis 1:
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Reading Strategy:
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Literary Analysis 2:
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Irony:
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Ms. Reade
“The Cask of Amontillado” Vocabulary
1. Abscond:
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2. Aperture:
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3. Immolation:
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4. Impunity:
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5. Preclude:
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6. Repose:
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7. Subside:
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8. Termination:
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9. Retribution:
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10. Connoisseurship:
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11. Impose upon:
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12. Recoiling:
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13. Fettered:
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14. Endeavored:
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15. Obstinate:
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16. Succession:
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17. Distinguish:
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18. Explicit:
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19. Jest:
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20. Hastened:
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“The Cask of Amontillado”
Is revenge ever justified? Explain why or why not? Give examples to support your
explanation.
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Literary Analysis
Mood
The overall feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader is called mood. Poe develops mood
in the story by using sensory details and imagery to convey setting, repetition of words and the rhythm of
language, and words that describe thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Example Passage: “A cold wind sliced across the silent and empty graveyard. Stanton shivered
and glanced up at the moon, a pale sliver behind dark clouds. He heard footsteps, then
more footsteps, and his stomach knotted. Shouldn’t have come, he thought.”
Mood That Is Created: Fear and Mystery
Words That Help Create Mood: Pale sliver, stomach knotted, repetition of “footsteps”, and thoughts
“shouldn’t have come”.
Directions: Locate the passages in the book which are identified in the chart. Read the passages carefully
and identify the kind of mood that is created and list the words from that passage that help create that
mood.
Passage
Mood That is Created
Words/Phrases That Help Create Mood
Page 372
Lines 21-26
Page 376
Lines 138-145
Page 378
Lines 173-184
Page 379
Lines 192-208
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Reading Strategy
Paraphrase
To understand complex sentences or archaic language, sometimes it helps to paraphrase an author’s
words. When you paraphrase, you restate information in your own words. By doing so, you simplify the
original and make it easier to understand.
Directions: As you read “The Cask of Amontillado”, copy difficult passages and their line numbers from
the story in the chart. Then paraphrase each passage. One passage has been paraphrased for you.
Text
Paraphrase
1.
“It must be understood, that neither by word
nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt
my good-will.”
You must understand that I did nothing to
make Fortunato mistrust me.
2.
“I must not only punish, but punish with
impunity. A wrong is unredressed when
retribution overtakes its redresser. It is
equally unredressed when the avenger fails
to make himself felt as such to him who has
done the wrong.”
3.
“A succession of loud and shrill screams,
bursting suddenly from the throat of the
chained form, seemed to thrust me violently
back. For a brief moment I hesitated-I
trembled. Unsheathing my rapier, I began to
grope with it about the recess; but the thought
of an instant reassured me. I placed my
hand upon the solid fabric of the catacombs,
and felt satisfied. I reproached the wall. I
replied to the yells of him who clamored. I reechoed – I aided – I surpassed them in volume
and in strength. I did this, and the clamorer
grew still.”
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Literary Analysis
Review your paraphrase of the passage in box two of your Reading Strategy page. Does
Montresor achieve the kind of revenge he wants? Cite details from the story to support your
answer.
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Dramatic irony occurs when the reader knows something that a character does not. Identify
three examples of dramatic irony in this story. What is the effect of the irony on your
experience as a reader?
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Irony (verbal-situational-dramatic)
VERBAL IRONY
1.
Say one thing but mean another
2.
3.
4.
Effect:
SITUATIONAL IRONY
Opposite happens of what is
expected to happen
1.
2.
3.
Effect:
DRAMATIC IRONY
Reader knows info that character(s)
do not know
1.
2.
Effect:
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Revenge
At times ... I wish
I could meet in a duel
the man who killed my father
and razed our home,
expelling me
into a narrow country.
And if he killed me,
I'd rest at last
and if I were ready I would take my revenge!
Or if he had
friends or companions,
neighbors he knew
or allies from prison
or a hospital room,
or classmates from his school...
asking about him
and sending him regards.
But if it came to light,
when my rival appeared,
that he had a mother
waiting for him,
or a father who'd put
his right hand over
the heart's place in his chest
whenever his son was late
even by just a quarter-hour
for a meeting they'd set then I would not kill him,
even if I could.
But if he turned
out to be on his own cut off like a branch from a tree without mother or father,
with neither a brother nor sister,
wifeless, without a child,
and without kin or neighbors or friends,
colleagues or companions,
then I'd add not a thing to his pain
within that aloneness nor the torment of death,
and not the sorrow of passing away.
Instead I'd be content
to ignore him when I passed him by
on the street - as I
convinced myself
that paying him no attention
in itself was a kind of revenge.
Likewise ... I
would not murder him
if it were soon made clear
that he had a brother or sisters
who loved him and constantly longed to see him.
Or if he had a wife to greet him
and children who
couldn't bear his absence
and who his presents thrilled.
~ Taha Muhammad Ali ~
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