Name _______________________________
Date __________________
“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe
Questions #4: Paragraphs 4—7
Focus and Assessment: How does the narrator’s point of view contribute to the reader’s understanding of a
central idea?
Directions 1: Share your annotations of Paragraphs 4—7. This was your homework.
Directions 2: Read paragraph 4, from “Upon the eighth night I was more than usually cautious” to “and I kept
pushing it on steadily, steadily.”
Questions
Responses
1. Why does the narrator
experience “feelings of
triumph”?
2. What does the use of
“chuckled” reveal about the
narrator’s feelings in this
paragraph?
3. How does the narrator
respond to the old man’s
sudden movement?
Directions 3: Read aloud paragraphs 5—6 (From “I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern” to
“hearkening to the death watches in the wall”), and answer these questions:
4. How does the narrator
respond the old man “crying
out”?
5. Why does the narrator not
“move a muscle” for a “whole
hour”?
6. How does Poe structure these
paragraphs to manipulate
time?
Directions 4: Read aloud the first part of paragraph 7 (from “Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it
was the groan” through “I knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although I chuckled at heart”) and
answer the following questions.
7. Why does the narrator pity
the old man?
8. Explain the narrator’s feelings
in the following sentence:
“I knew what the old man
felt, and pitied him, although
I chuckled at heart.” What is
the purpose of the word
“although” in this sentence?
Directions 5: Read aloud the second part of paragraph 7 (from “I knew that he had been lying awake ever
since” through “—to feel the presence of my head within the room”) and answer the following questions:
9. What are the old man’s
suppositions?
10. Why are the old man’s
suppositions in vain?
11. What does in vain mean in
this context?
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12. What is the “unperceived
shadow” in the last sentence?
13. What are Poe’s structural
choices in this excerpt
concerning the manipulation
of time?
Quick Write 4.4: Write a response to the following prompt:
Prompt: How does the narrator’s point of view contribute to the reader’s understanding of a
central idea?
Write in the Writing Section of your Composition Book, next available page . Answer the prompt based on the
reading completed in this lesson by citing strong and thorough textual evidence.
Homework: Due tomorrow.
Read and annotate paragraphs 8—13 according to the protocols we have been using, and using the codes:
CI = Central Idea; SC = Structural Choices; POV = Point of View
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