Creating Mood, Suspense, Horror in literature
“Monkey’s Paw” by w.w. Jacobs (1863-1943)
Mood
Setting
Theme
Tone
Plot
Writing Style
Irony
Characters
Context Clues
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) – Monday, 10/27
Biography
Writing Style
“Annabel Lee” (1849) – Monday, 10/27
Lyric poetry
Mood
Tone
Assonance
Alliteration
Repetition
Theme
Irony
Context Clues
“The Raven” (1845) – Tuesday, 10/28
Narrative poetry
Mood
Tone
Internal Rhyme
Alliteration
Repetition
Theme
Irony
Context Clues
“The Tell-Tale Heart” (1843) – Wednesday, 10/29
Mood
Setting
Suspense
Tone
Plot
Writing Style
Irony
Narrator
Context Clues
Bio-Poem – Thursday, 10/30
Review – Monday, 11/3
Unit Test – Wednesday, 11/5
“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs
1. Define mood:
2. List the three ways that writers create mood in literature.
3. What is the dominant mood in “The Monkey’s Paw”?
4. Does the mood ever change during the story? If so, when and why does it change?
5. Define tone:
6. What is the author’s tone regarding the monkey’s paw? What evidence from the text
supports your belief?
7. How is tone different from mood?
8. How does Jacobs create suspense in the plot of “The Monkey’s Paw”?
9. “Mr. White took the paw from his pocket and eyed it dubiously. “I don’t know what to
wish for, and that’s a fact, “ he said slowly. “It seems to me I’ve got all I want. “ “If you only
cleared the house, you’d be quite happy, wouldn’t you?” said Herbert, with his hand on his
shoulder. “Well, wish for two hundred pounds, then; that’ll just do it.” (364) Why does this
conversation turn out to be ironic?
10. Write a statement that you think would be a meaningful theme for this story. Why do
you think this theme is relevant to readers?
Edgar
Allan
Poe
On January 19, 1809, Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston,
Massachusetts. Poe’s father and mother, both professional actors, died before
the poet was three years old, and John and Frances Allan raised him as a
foster child in Richmond, Virginia. John Allan, a prosperous tobacco exporter,
sent Poe to the best boarding schools and later to the University of Virginia,
where Poe excelled academically. After less than one year of school, however,
he was forced to leave the university when Allan refused to pay Poe’s gambling
debts.
Poe returned briefly to Richmond, but his relationship with Allan
deteriorated. In 1827, he moved to Boston and enlisted in the United States
Army. His first collection of poems, Tamerlane, and Other Poems, was
published that year. In 1829, he published a second collection entitled Al
Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems. Neither volume received significant
critical or public attention. Following his Army service, Poe was admitted to
the United States Military Academy, but he was again forced to leave for lack
of financial support. He then moved into the home of his aunt Maria Clemm
and her daughter Virginia in Baltimore, Maryland.
Poe began to sell short stories to magazines at around this time, and, in
1835, he became the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond,
where he moved with his aunt and cousin Virginia. In 1836, he married
Virginia, who was fourteen years old at the time. Over the next ten years, Poe
would edit a number of literary journals including the Burton’s Gentleman’s
Magazine and Graham’s Magazine in Philadelphia and the Broadway
Journal in New York City. It was during these years that he established
himself as a poet, a short story writer, and an editor. He published some of his
best-known stories and poems, including “The Fall of the House of Usher,"
“The Tell-Tale Heart," “The Murders in the Rue Morgue," and “The Raven.”
After Virginia’s death from tuberculosis in 1847, Poe’s lifelong struggle with
depression and alcoholism worsened. He returned briefly to Richmond in 1849
and then set out for an editing job in Philadelphia. For unknown reasons, he
stopped in Baltimore. On October 3, 1849, he was found in a state of semiconsciousness. Poe died four days later of “acute congestion of the brain.”
Evidence by medical practitioners who reopened the case has shown that Poe
may have been suffering from rabies.
Poe’s work as an editor, a poet, and a critic had a profound impact on
American and international literature. His stories mark him as one of the
originators of both horror and detective fiction. Many anthologies credit him as
the “architect” of the modern short story. He was also one of the first critics to
focus primarily on the effect of style and structure in a literary work; as such,
he has been seen as a forerunner to the “art for art’s sake” movement. French
Symbolists such as Mallarmé and Rimbaud claimed him as a literary
precursor. Baudelaire spent nearly fourteen years translating Poe into French.
Today, Poe is remembered as one of the first American writers to become a
major figure in world literature.
~From PoetryFoundation.org
“Annabel Lee”, by Edgar Allan Poe
Love so strong that it endured beyond the grave was an ideal topic for poetry according to Edgar Allan Poe. He wrote
this beautiful lyric poem in 1849. Notice how the poet conveys his deep feelings for Annabel Lee while telling you of her
death. Notice also the lyric quality of the poem—how it might easily be set to music.
1. What made life meaningful to the narrator of the poem?
2. What was the real cause of Annabel Lee’s death, according to the poet?
3. According to the poem, what would you say the narrator spends most of his time doing?
STUDYING THE PASSAGE:
4. Find the main idea: Choose one.
a. How Annabel Lee died.
b. How love brings heartache
c. How the poet came to love Annabel Lee.
d. Annabel’s and the poet’s love for each other.
_____
5. Find the facts: Mark each one true (+) or false (O).
a. The poet fell in love with Annabel long before he wrote the poem.
b. The poet and Annabel lived on an island.
c. Only demons could dissever the souls of the lovers.
d. Annabel Lee is buried far from the sea.
e. Even the angels envied the lovers.
f. The moon reminds the poet of Annabel’s smiling face.
g. The poet is always thinking of Annabel Lee.
h. Annabel died by drowning.
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
6. Go beyond the facts: Which one of the following could you conclude from the poem?
a. The poet means to seek revenge for the death of his love.
b. The poet hates the sea because it reminds him of his love.
c. The poet will never love anyone so deeply again.
d. The poet’s love for Annabel is still so intense that she seems real to him
_____
7. Determine the writer’s style and technique: Choose two answers.
a. The poet generally analyzes love and its meaning.
b. The poet describes a personal experience.
c. The poet gives a vivid description of Annabel Lee.
d. The poet communicates personal feelings.
_____ _____
8. How do assonance, alliteration, and repetition influence the mood of this poem?
9. How does imagery influence the mood of this poem?
10. What is the mood of the poem?
11. What tone does the author express toward Annabel Lee?
12. What is the irony of the poem?
13. How does this poem fit in a unit on horror and suspense?
“The Tell Tale Heart” – Mc.D. Literature, 77.
Write answers in complete sentences on a separate sheet of notebook paper.
Be sure to number each answer. Always provide evidence from the text to
support your answer.
1. Why do you think the narrator begins the story by telling us that he is not mad?
2. Why did the narrator visit the old man’s room seven nights in a row?
3. Do you think the police could hear the heart beating? Why or why not?
4. What do you really think caused the narrator to confess?
5. Do you think the narrator was mad? Why or why not?
For the following questions, please provide at least two complete sentences to
support your answer. Always provide evidence from the text to support your
answer.
6. Make Inferences:
Reread lines 7–13. What can you infer about the relationship
between the narrator and the old man?
7. Analyze Suspense: Circle one of the phrases in parentheses and then complete
the sentence.
(Describing a character’s anxiety or fear/Relating vivid descriptions of dramatic
sights and sounds/Repeating words, phrases, or characters’ actions) is the most
effective technique that Poe used for creating suspense because ____________ .
8. Evaluate Narrator: Circle a choice in parentheses and then complete the
sentence.
The narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart” is (reliable/not reliable) because __________ .
9. Draw Conclusions: Circle a choice in parentheses and then complete the
sentence.
The police (knew/did not know) that the narrator was guilty before he confessed
because ___________ .
Word Busting in “The Monkey’s Paw”
1. Figure out the word’s meaning by looking at its context, its structure, and its sound.
2. Look up the word in the dictionary. Write the meaning as used in the sentence.
1. grimace
“it’s just an ordinary little paw, dried to a mummy.” He took something
out of his pocket and proffered it. Mrs. White drew back with a grimace,
but her son, taking it, examined it carefully.
1. Context Clues: Fearful, doesn’t want it
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition: n. a facial expression, often ugly or contorted, that indicates pain
or disapproval
2. talisman
“Her husband drew the talisman from his pocket, and then all three
burst into laughter as the sergeant-major, with a look of alarm on his
face, caught him by the arm. “If you must wish,” he said gruffly, “wish
for something sensible.”
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
3. trifle
“Did you give him anything for it, Father?” inquired Mrs. White,
regarding her husband closely. “A trifle,” said he, coloring slightly. “He
didn’t want it, but I made him take it. And he pressed me again to throw
it away.”
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
4. credulity
“His father, smiling shamefacedly at his own credulity, held up the
talisman, as his son, with a solemn face, somewhat marred by a wink at
his mother, sat down at the piano and struck a few impressive chords. “I
wish for two hundred pounds,” said the old man distinctly.”
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
5. avaricious
“Well, don’t break into the money before I come back,” said Herbert as he
rose from the table. “I’m afraid it’ll turn you into a mean, avaricious
man, and we shall have to disown you.”
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
6. preoccupied
“She brought the stranger, who seemed ill at ease, into the room. He
gazed at her furtively, and listened in a preoccupied fashion as the old
lady apologized for the appearance of the room . . . “
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
7. compensation “I was to say that Maw and Meggins disclaim all responsibility,”
continued the other. “They admit no liability at all, but in consideration
of your son’s services, they wish to present you with a certain sum as
compensation.”
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
8. apathetically
“The old man, with an unspeakable sense of relief at the failure of the
talisman, crept back to his bed, and a minute or two afterward the old
woman came silently and apathetically beside him.”
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
9. resounded
“His wife sat up in bed listening. A loud knock resounded through the
house.”
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
10. fusillade
“If only he could find it before the thing outside got in. A perfect
fusillade of knocks reverberated through the house, and he heard the
scraping of a chair as his wife put it down in the passage against the
door.”
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
Word Busting in “Annabel Lee”
1. Figure out the word’s meaning by looking at its context, its structure, and its sound.
2. Look up the word in the dictionary. Write the meaning as used in the sentence.
1. maiden
“And this maiden she lived with no other thought/Than to love and be
loved by me. I was a child and she was a child,/ In this kingdom by the
sea,” (l.5-8)
1. Context Clues: female, young person
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition: n. a young, unmarried woman
2. seraphs
“With a love that the winged seraphs of Heaven/ Coveted her and me”
(l.11-12)… “The angels, not half so happy in Heaven/ Went envying her
and me –“(l.21-22).
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
3. coveted
“With a love that the winged seraphs of Heaven/ Coveted her and me”
(l.11-12)… “The angels, not half so happy in Heaven/ Went envying her
and me –“(l.21-22).
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
4. kinsmen
“So that her highborn kinsmen came/ And bore her away from me,”
(l.17-18).
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
5. sepulchre
“A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling/ My beautiful Annabel Lee;/ So that
her highborn kinsmen came / And bore her away from me,/ To shut her
up in a sepulcher / In this kingdom by the sea” (l.15-20). “In her
sepulcher there by the sea - /In her tomb by the sounding sea” (l. 40-41).
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
6. dissever
“And neither the angels in Heaven above / Nor the demons down under
the sea / Can ever dissever my soul from the soul / Of the beautiful
Annabel Lee;” (l. 30-33).
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
7. night-tide
“And so, all the night-tide, I like down by the side / Of my darling – my
darling – my life and my bride,” (l.38-39).
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
Word Busting in “The Tell Tale Heart”
1. Figure out the word’s meaning by looking at its context, its structure, and its sound.
2. Look up the word in the dictionary. Write the meaning as used in the sentence.
1. acute:
“The disease had sharpened my senses – not destroyed – not dulled
them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the
heaven and in the earth” (78).
1. Context Clues: sharpened by senses, hearing all things
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix) – root is Latin – acu (sharp like a needle)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition: adj. sharp or intense, extremely sensitive
2. conceived
“It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once
conceived, it haunted me day and night” (78).
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
3. vexed
“ . . . it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye” (80).
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
4. stifled
“It was not a groan of pain or grief – oh, no! – it was the low, stifled
sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with
awe” (80).
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
5. crevice
“When I had waited a long time, very patiently, without hearing him lie
down, I resolved to open a little – a very, very little crevice in the lantern.
So, I opened it – you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily – until,
at length, a single dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot out from
the crevice and fell full upon the vulture eye” (81).
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
6. stealthily – see above
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
7. audacity
“In the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room, and
desired them here to reset from their fatigues, while I myself, in the wild
audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot
beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim” (83).
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
8. vehemently
“I gasped for breath – and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more
quickly – more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased” (83).
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
9. derision
“They heard! – they suspected! – they knew! – they were making a
mockery of my horror! – this I thought, and this I think. But anything
was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this
derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt I must
scream or die! (83).
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
10. hypocritical – see above
1. Context Clues:
2. Structure: (root, prefix, suffix)
3. Connotation: (negative, positive, neutral)
4. Dictionary definition:
BioPoem
Purpose / Context: The purpose of this activity is to demonstrate knowledge of a
character by following written prompts to complete a poem about the individual. You may
select any major character we have talked about in this unit: Mr. or Mrs. White from The
Monkey’s Paw, the speaker or Annabel Lee, the speaker or the raven from The Raven, or the
narrator from The Tell Tale Heart. You are to write your final draft on a piece of
unlined paper - neatly and in ink. If you have time, you may add color illustrations.
The poems are due completed at the end of class for a quiz grade.
Directions:
Line 1: First name of character (you may have to be creative here)
Line 2: Three traits that describe the character
Line 3: Relative of ___________________________
Line 4: Lover of _____________________________
Line 5: Who feels ___________________________ (three things)
Line 6: Who needs __________________________( three things)
Line 7: Who fears __________________________ (three things)
Line 8: Who gives ___________________________ (three things)
Line 9: Who would like to see ________________ (three things)
Line 10: Resident of ____________________________________
Line 11: Last name (once again, you may have to be creative here)
Steve
Sample:
Young, Black, Naïve
Brother of the hood
Lover of freedom, innocence, and yesterday
Who feels scared, alone, and regretful
Who needs to experience adulthood, to avoid life in a steel cage, to learn the hard way
Who gives feeling to his writing, a twist to the stereotype, hope to one in the same situation,
Who would like to see his next birthday out of a bright orange suit, his mother stop crying,
and his father’s dreams a reality
Resident of the Manhattan Detention Center
Harmon