“The Fall of the House of Usher”
Questionnaire 1:
1- Which type of focalization is used here ? Choose the right answer
an external focalization
an internal focalization
2- Who is the narrator ?
3- Why is he in the Usher's mansion ?
4- Who is the person with whom Roderick shares his life ? Choose the right answer
His twin-sister
His mother
His best friend
His wife
5- Describe Roderick's disease.
6- How is the atmosphere that reigns in the mansion - and in the short story ?
7- Does the narrator meet Madeline ? How many times if he does ? Choose the right answer
Once alive
Twice alive and once dead Once alive and once dead
alive and twice dead Once alive, once dead and once as a ghost.
Once
8-"His long improvised dirges will ring forever in my ears". Comment this sentence and
explain from which passage is it extracted.
9-"I have just spoken of that morbid condition of the auditory nerve which rendered all music
intolerable to the sufferer, with the exception of certain effects of stringed instruments". What
are those conditions ?
10-There is a rupture in the routine that goes between the two characters. What is this
rupture?
11- " It was no wonder that his condition terrified—that it infected me. I felt creeping upon
me, by slow yet certain degrees, the wild influences of his own fantastic yet impressive
superstitions." When does it happen, and why ? Is there any rational explanation ?
12- How many days has Madeline passed in the vault ?
13- What does the narrator do to calm Roderick during the final storm ?
Read his favourite novel
Listen to music
Improvise music
14 - In what way is this activity important ?
15- "Here again I paused abruptly, and now with a feeling of wild amazement—for there
could be no doubt whatever that, in this instance, I did actually hear (although from what
direction it proceeded I found it impossible to say) a low and apparently distant, but harsh,
protracted, and most unusual screaming or grating sound." What is that sound ?
16 - Is there any link between the mansion and the family ? Develop as much as you can.
17 - Do you see any common point between The Fall of the House of Usher and The Tell Tale
Heart ?
Julie
Questionnaire 2 :
Read the questions and report the answers in the line it deals with. At the end, you will
discover the last words of the tale. Enjoy.
1. What is the title of the poem introduced in the tale?
2. What is the adjective that follow “It’s a mansion of…”?
3. What is the first adjective used to describe the day, at the beginning of the tale, when
the narrator arrives at the mansion?
4. What is the weather like at the end of the tale?
5. What is the narrator’s word used to characterize Roderick’s temper during their
boyhood?
6. The name of one of the characters’ favorite book, written by Dominican Eymeric de
Girone, is “Directorium …”
7. Complete the sentence: “In this unnerved-in this pitiable condition-I feel that the
period will sooner or later arrive when I must abandon life and reason together, in
some struggle with the grim phantasm, …”
8. At one moment, the narrator speaks about reveries, which ones?
9. What is the link between Roderick and Lady Usher?
10. Which word does the narrator use to describe the disease of his friend?
11. What is the name of Roderick’s sister?
12. What has Ethelred to fight against?
Manon
Questionnaire 3 :
Crosswords Questions 1-­‐ What is the narrator’s name? 2-­‐ What is the name of Usher ? 3-­‐ Who is Madeline with regard to Roderick ? 4-­‐ What is the relationship between Roderick and the narrator ? 5-­‐ What are the common points between the Ushers ? 6-­‐ What is the event which changes Roderick’s behavior ? 7-­‐ What is the name of the knight of “The Hauted Place” ? 8-­‐ Ethelred fights against something ? Who is it ? 9-­‐ Who is behind the door at the end of the short story ? 10-­‐ What is the light which falls on the road ? 11-­‐ How did they find each other again ? Y L L U W E F R I E N D S X T W I N I V E R A E B T C H N O G A R D T R F H I R E M E R H M W L N G T Y S I S T E R O E I I H A C I Z A X T I H M L V N E A C S I L T T A N I E R D R K C I R E D O R O A S L U S Z Q U L O T V W D T S V A R T H M A D E L I N E E Marine C.