“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe
Standards Focus: Irony, Mood, Foreshadowing, and Paraphrasing
Part I: Irony: Directions: In the following graph, tell what type of irony is being illustrated and explain why it is
ironic in the story.
Textual
example
Type of Irony
Explanation
(verbal, dramatic, situational)
(textual evidence)
1. Fortunato’s name
2. Title of story
3. Fortunato’s costume choice
4. Montresor’s “concern” over
the damp and Fortunato
falling down the stairs
5. “The cough is a mere
nothing; it will not kill me.”
(Fortunato)
6. “Let us be gone.”
(Fortunato) “Yes,” I said, “let
us be gone.”(Montressor)
Part II: Mood & Foreshadowing
7.
What is the mood at the beginning of the story? How does Poe establish this mood?
8. How does the change in setting contribute to the mood of the story?
9. List two to three examples of sensory details that help create a certain mood for the reader.
10. Read lines 173-183. What descriptions make this description even more horrifying?
11. Give two examples of how the setting foreshadows the disastrous events of the night.
Part III: Paraphrasing
*Paraphrasing is a way to reword information so that it is easier to understand YET retains the original meaning.
Directions: In the following chart, paraphrase the selections from “The Cask of Amontillado”. One has been done
for you.
Text
“It must be understood that neither by word nor deed
had I given Fortunado cause to doubt my good will.”
(lines 9-10)
“The thousand injuries of Fortunado I had borne as best
I could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed
revenge.” (lines 1-2)
“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.” (lines 6-8)
“There were no attendants at home; they had
absconded to make merry in honor of the time. I had
told them that I should not return until the morning,
and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the
house. These orders were sufficient; I well knew, to
insure their immediate disappearance, one and all, as
soon as my back was turned.” (lines 59-63)
Paraphrase
You must understand that I said and did nothing to
make Fortunado mistrust me.