“The Black Cat”
STUDY GUIDE
Directions: Answer each question thoroughly. Use complete sentences that do not begin with
pronouns.
1. What is important about the title?
2. Poe stressed that the “very initial sentence” should bring out the effect of a short story. What
is the effect produced by the first sentence of “The Black Cat”?
3. List some words and phrases from the first paragraph that further bring out the effect
produced by the story.
4. How does the description of the Pluto as "knowing" contribute to the meaning of the story?
5. What causes the narrator’s feelings for the Pluto to change from love to hate?
6. What is the significance of the narrator's change of disposition from docile and tender to
"...more moody, more irritable and regardless of the feelings of others"?
7. Why did the narrator initially restrain himself from maltreating Pluto, while maltreating the
other animals?
8. Why does he eventually mistreat Pluto?
9. Describe the narrator's feelings after abusing Pluto? Why is that significant?
10. Explain the significance: "One morning, in cool blood, I slipped a noose about the cat’s neck
and hung it to the limb of a tree in the garden.”
11. What is significant about the new cat and his markings? What does the cat symbolize?
12. Why is it significant that this new cat will not leave the narrator alone?
13. How does the fact that the narrator kills his wife instead of the new cat add to the meaning of
the story?
14. What is significant about the narrator's method in disposing of the body?
15. How do you explain the fact that the new cat was able to survive? Discuss the symbolism.
16. What are the conflicts in "The Black Cat"? What types of conflict (physical, moral,
intellectual, or emotional) do you see in this story?
17. How does Edgar Allan Poe reveal character in "The Black Cat"?
18. What are some themes in the story? How do they relate to the plot and characters?
19. What are some symbols in "The Black Cat"? How do they relate to the plot and characters?
20. Is the narrator consistent in his actions? Is he a fully developed character? How? Why?
21. What is the role of women in the text?