Name:
Period:
“Cask of Amontillado”
by Edgar Allan Poe
Directions: Read the entire story, and then respond in complete sentences to the questions. Make sure
you answer all questions:
1. What does Montresor admit is his motive for this crime?
2. What evidence suggests that Montresor has committed the perfect crime?
3. What is the climax of the story? How do you know?
4. Montresor’s voice – the way he speaks and his tone – is frequently ironic. Which of Montresor’s
comments to the unsuspecting Fortunato mean something different from what they seem to
mean? (At least 5 examples required)
5. How would you describe the persona that Poe has created for Montresor? Why might Poe have
chosen someone like Montresor to tell his story?
6. What are the character traits of Fortunato that would cause him to fall prey to Montresor?
7. Why did Montresor go to such lengths to get his revenge? After all, he could merely have killed
Fortunato with his sword.
8. To whom could Montresor be talking, fifty years after the murder, and for what reasons might
he be deciding to tell the story now?
9. Think about Poe’s decision to set his story during carnival. What is ironic about the setting. In
what ways does the setting suit the plot of the story?
10. Did Montressor actually commit the “perfect crime”? Justify your response with evidence from
the story.