“The Black Cat”
Discussion
Poe’s Story
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•First person POV•
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Diction
•A writer’s choice of _____________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Diction can be
–Formal- elevated use of language- complex words and lofty tone
–Middle- reflects the way most educated people speak
–Informal- plain language of everyday use- slang and idioms
The Beginning
•Where is the narrator in the beginning of the story?
•What is the meaning behind the cat’s name?
•How does this provide foreshadowing?
The Unreliable Narrator
•How does the narrator originally portray himself?
•What early evidence does he give us to show us that he is not to be trusted?
•What is the Fiend Intemperance?
•PERVERSENESS- how does he attempt to justify?
The Supernatural?
•the apparition of the first cat upon the burned wall
•the appearance of the gallowslike pattern upon the chest of the second cat
• the discovery of the second cat behind the cellar wall
A question…
•Is there really a second cat?
The Fantastic
•The fantastic is ________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
•One of the fantastic elements in “The Black Cat” is the ________________________—
with the changing shape of its white fur and its appearance on the corpse behind the wall.
•These plot twists challenge reality, but they do not completely substitute a supernatural
explanation for a logical one.
The Ending
•How does the narrator feel about his crime?
•What is odd about his manner when the police arrive?
• Why might he respond this way?