“The Cask of Amontillado” By Edgar Allan Poe

1. “The Cask of Amontillado” By Edgar Allan Poe

2. Edgar Allan Poe • Biographical Video: http://www.biography.com/people/edgar-allan-poe-9443160

3. Literary Terms to Know • Suspense: a state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen. • Point of View: the position of the narrator in relation to the story. • 3rd Limited: Narrator is outside the story and only knows the thoughts of one character. • 3rd Omniscient: Narrator is outside the story and is all-knowing. • 3rd objective: Only reports the facts-think “news reporter.” • 1st : Character is in the story and tells if from his point of view-uses I, me, etc.

4. Literary Terms to Know • Tone: what the author (rather than the reader) feels about the subject. • Mood: the emotions a selection arouses in a reader. A writer’s diction helps to create mood. • Imagery: an author's use of vivid and descriptive language to add depth to their work. It appeals to human senses to deepen the reader's understanding of the work.

5. Literary Terms to Know • Repetition: repeating of a word or phrase to provide emphasis • Onomotopoeia: words that imitate natural sounds.

6. Literary Terms to Know • Paraphrasing: putting things in your own words; restating the passage to make it clearer. It is usually about the same length as the passage. • “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could.” • I had put up with the many wrongs Fortunato had done to me as best as I could.

7. Building Background • Much of this story is set in the catacombs of the Monstresor family, which are also used as a wine cellar. • Catacombs are underground cemeteries. The walls are lined with niches where bodies are placed. • Carnival is a celebration involving costume parades, feasting, and other festivities. • It takes place mainly in Roman Catholic regions during the weeks before Lent, a holy season of abstinence and prayer. • Think-Mardi Gras!

8. Literary Terms to Know • Summary: reading information and reducing it to only the main idea. Highlighting only what’s important.

9. Summarize • • The story takes place in an Italian palazzo, or mansion. • • The mansion has catacombs, which are underground burial chambers. • • Catacombs could be reached by climbing down narrow staircases. • • The catacombs were lined with hollowed-out nooks where the remains of the dead were put. • The story is set during Carnival time.

10. Summarize • The story takes place during Carnival in an Italian mansion that has a burial chambers called Catacombs beneath it. Catacombs are very dark and deep; they hold the remains of dead people.

11. Catacombs • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsqCXXyzlUM

12. Agree or Disagree? • If someone does terrible things to you, you should be able to take revenge. • Revenge is pointless; it can’t really make up for anything.

13. Revenge? • What kind of things would make someone want to take revenge? • Does getting revenge make people feel better or worse?

14. Predict • Knowing that a story is set in a catacomb and involves revenge, what type of mood would you predict the author wished to create?