ANNOUNCEMENT/ REMINDER:
TURN OFF VOLUME ON
COMPUTER BEFORE BEGINNING
POWERPOINT SHOW.
(This is “just in case” the Poe video clips decide to work automatically. Don’t plan to play the audio
at all (It’s “The Raven”, not Cask). The clips are only there because I wanted a visual of a “talking
Poe” under his written words) 
BELLRINGER TASK:
Read through the quotes below. CHOOSE ONE that interests you and write about it.
What does it mean? What is the message? Do you agree? Why?
1. “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”- Mahatma
Gandhi
2. “Don’t get mad, get even.”- Robert F. Kennedy
3. “She got even in a way that was almost cruel. She forgave them.” –Ralph McGill
about Eleanor Roosevelt
4. “Success is the sweetest revenge.”—Vanessa Williams
5. “Revenge is often like biting a dog because the dog bit you.”—Austin O’Malley
Notice that all the quotes share a common theme: Revenge.
Thinking about revenge, and your opinion of its use, benefits, drawbacks and/or
purpose, will help you better understand our story’s narrator.
Write at least 5 sentences using imagery to
describe (show) the setting with sensory details:
“Paraphrasing Poe”
(handout)
Edgar Allan Poe is known for
using long, formal, complex
sentences that challenge
modern readers. Let’s take a
minute to familiarize ourselves
with that language before we
start reading The Cask of
Amontillado.
Poe’s Words:
spoken by the narrator
Which paraphrase is correct?
1. I put up with Fortunato’s abuse a thousand
times, but when he insulted me, I knew I
had to get revenge.
The thousand injuries of
Fortunato I had borne as I
best could; but when he
2. I’ve known Fortunato for what feels like a
ventured upon insult, I
thousand years, and I’ve helped him
vowed revenge.
through many injuries the best that I could.
But I’m tired of it, and he owes me now.
3. Fortunato has caused me many injuries and
I dealt with it without insulting him in
return. But as best as I can, I’m getting my
payback.
Poe’s Words:
spoken by the narrator
THE thousand injuries of
Fortunato I had borne as I
best could; but when he
ventured upon insult, I
vowed revenge.
Paraphrased in my words:
(It has already been completed for you)
I put up with Fortunato’s abuse a
thousand times, but when he
insulted me, I knew I had to get
revenge.
Poe’s Words:
spoken by the narrator
Which paraphrase is correct?
**NOTE**
You, who so well know the The narrator is talking directly to the audience (us).
nature of my soul, will not
suppose, however, that I gave 1. You—who knows how I am—know that I
wouldn’t “utter” a threat if, however, I weren’t
utterance to a threat.
going to actually do it.
2. You—who knows the real me—would never
believe, however, that I’d respond to a threat.
3. You—who knows my true nature—would not
think, however, that I’d actually instigate such
an insult with a threat (Right?)
Poe’s Words:
spoken by the narrator
You, who so well know the
nature of my soul, will not
suppose, however, that I gave
utterance to a threat.
Paraphrased in my words:
(talking to audience/us)
You—who knows how I am—know
that I wouldn’t “utter” (make) a
threat if I weren’t going to do it.
Poe’s Words:
spoken by the narrator
At length I would be
Which paraphrase is correct?
1.
avenged; this was a point
definitively settled - but
the very definitiveness
with which it was resolved, 2.
precluded the idea of risk.
I must not only punish,
but punish with impunity.
3.
To a great extent, will I enforce my revenge, absolutely. But
the way in which I would settle the score would not be
stopped by fear of any risks. I have to punish Fortunato, and
do it with extreme pain.
Eventually, I will get even; there’s no question, I’m definitely
going to do this. This decision came before I considered any
risk, though—I must not only punish, but I must do so with
freedom (without consequence).
From a distance (or later on), I will have to face punishment
for what I plan to do—that’s obvious, but I’ve made up my
mind (he deserves it, and I deserve to get my revenge). I
have decided it’s worth the risk. I must not only get my
revenge, but I must do it regardless of any punishment
coming my way afterwards.
Poe’s Words:
spoken by the narrator
At length I would be avenged;
this was a point definitively
settled - but the very
definitiveness with which it was
resolved, precluded the idea of
risk. I must not only punish, but
punish with impunity.
Paraphrased in my words:
Eventually, I will get even; there’s
no question, I’m definitely going to
do this. This decision came before I
considered any risk, though—I must
not only punish, but I must do so
with freedom (without
consequence).
Poe’s Words:
spoken by the narrator
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.
Which paraphrase is correct?
1. An insult is settled when revenge punishes the first
offender. It’s also settled when the avenger (me) is
able to avoid getting in trouble for hurting the person
who hurt me first (Fortunato).
2. A wrong is not settled when (or if) I, the redresser,
gets punished for taking what I deserve (my revenge).
It is equally “unredressed” if the person who is
deserving of my punishment (Fortunato) does not feel
the same—or more—pain than what he caused me.
3. A mistake is uncorrected when payback for making the
mistake is worse than the mistake itself. It remains a
mistake, uncorrected, if the person who makes the
mistake fails to realize what he did wrong.
Poe’s Words:
Paraphrased in my words:
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.
A wrong is not settled when (or if) I, the
redresser, gets punished for taking what I
deserve (my revenge). It is equally
“unredressed” if the person who is
deserving of my punishment (Fortunato)
does not feel the same—or more—pain
than what he caused me.
spoken by the narrator