Period :
Name:
“The Tell-Tale Heart” Looking Closely at the Text
The Narrator’s Actions
The Narrator’s Characteristics
Find three (3) direct sections from the
story that show the narrator’ s actions
that have significant effects on the
outcome of the story. Be sure to
copy/quote the text correctly and cite the
page number.
Find three (3) direct sections from the
story that reveal the narrator’ s
personality. Be sure to copy/quote the
text correctly and cite the page number.
Action from the BEGINNING of the story:
Personality at the BEGINNING of the story:
Action from the MIDDLE of the story:
Personality at the MIDDLE of the story:
Action from the END of the story:
Personality at the END of the story:
The Trial of the Narrator from “The Tell-Tale Heart”
!
After the discovery of the old man’s body, the Narrator is on trial.
Decide whether you are the Narrator’s prosecuting attorney or his defense
attorney. Build a case that provides evidence (direct quotes)to help your side
find the justice they are seeking. Find evidence that show the Narrator’s actions
as well as his motives/state of mind. The EXPLANATIONS of how the evidence
proves he’s a murderer or is insane is the most important part.
!
The$Prosecution$Team$
$
The$Defense$Team$
Your!job!is!to!find!the!narrator!
GUILTY!of!MURDER!beyond!a!
reasonable!doubt.!
Find!EVIDENCE!of!his!thoughts!and!
actions!that!show!he!committed!the!
murder!of!the!old!man.!
! Since!your!client!!virtually!confessed,!your!job!
is!to!help!show!the!court!that!the!narrator!is!
NOT!GUILTY!by!reason!of!INSANITY.!
! Even!though!he!murdered!the!old!man,!find!
EVIDENCE!to!show!he!is!not!responsible!for!
what!he!did!because!his!thoughts!and!actions!
show!he!was!insane!at!that!time.!!
You may call yourself the prosecutor, or
! You may call yourself the public defender or
prosecuting attorney.
defense attorney.
The Narrator is called the defendant.
The Narrator is called my client, or the accused.!
The Old Man would be called the victim
!
Example!of!what!the!Defense!Team!might!say:!!
!
I present to you Exhibit A. My client was overheard saying that the victim “…had the
Ieyepresent
to you
A. aMy
wasever
overheard
of a vulture—a
pale Exhibit
blue eye, with
film client
over it. When
it fell upon me, my
blood
ran
cold…”
(p.
F-7)
So
you
see,
my
client
is
clearly
insane.
He believes
saying that the victim “…had the eye of a vulture—a
somebody’s eye has the power to chill him to the bone. That’s ridiculous. More
pale
blueheeye,
filmhadover
When
ever
it fell upon
importantly,
thinks with
this oldaman
a bird’sit.eye.
That’s just
not physically
possible.
Plus,
if
that
were
not
crazy
enough,
he
actually
though
that
was client
reason
me, my blood ran cold…” (p. F-7) So you see, itmy
enough to kill a man—just to get rid of his diseased eye. Obviously, my client was
is
insane.
Hetookbelieves
somebody’s
eye has the
notclearly
in his right-mind
when he
the life of the
old man.
!power to chill him to the bone. That’s ridiculous. More
Requirements:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
It is clear that the poster either represents the Prosecution Team OR the Defense Team
Each group member completes TWO pieces of EVIDENCE & EXPLANATION
Picture/Graphic/Symbol to represent each piece of evidence
Original title for poster
Story’s title and author
Names of group members
All work must be on the front of the poster. Nothing should hang off the sides.
“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe
Original Title!
!
*“Exhibit”!explained!in!your!
own!words!
*Evidence!(the!“Exhibit)!from!the!text!(quote)!
!
!
*EXPLANATION!of!how!the!evidence!shows!him!
guilty!of!murder!or!not!guilty!due!to!insanity.!
(TwoNthree!sentences—make!a!point)!
*Graphic!/Symbol!
!
a!
Type!of!Lawyer!
!
!
Period!__!
Group!Members’!Names!
*!
*!
*!