Analyzing The Tell-Tale Heart: Narrator's Madness & Actions

1. “The Tell-Tale Heart” Review

2. What sort of prediction is the reader most likely to make after reading these opening lines from “The Tell-Tale Heart”? • “You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have see how wisely I proceeded…” Whether the narrator is really mad

3. Why does the narrator kill the old man? Because he couldn’t stand to look at the old man’s eye

4. By not telling the reader immediately why the narrator is sneaking the lantern into the old man’s bedroom, the author creates an element of… suspense

5. What can be interpreted from the narrator’s action in this passage from the selection? • “I moved… slowly- very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man’s sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed.” He is very cautious

6. Why does the narrator greet the old man so heartily every morning? To reassure the old man

7. Upon entering the old man’s room on the eighth night, the narrator feels… Unexpectedly powerful

8. What is different about the old man’s reaction to the narrator’s intrusion on the eighth night? He wakes up and asks who is there.

9. “For a whole hour I did not move a muscle…” This quote builds… suspense

10. What characteristic of the narrator is evident in the following passage from the selection? • “I knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although I chuckled at heart.” cruelty

11. Why does the narrator cast a small beam of light on the old man’s face? So that he can look at his eye

12. What sound is being described in the following passage from the selection? • “… now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton.” The old man’s heart

13. The gradual increase in the loudness of the noise helps to increase the story’s… suspense

14. The narrator disposes of the old man’s body… Underneath the floorboards

15. The police were summoned to the crime by a neighbor who… heard a shriek

16. The suspense that leads to the confession is expressed most sharply in…. The ever-loudening sound of the heartbeat

17. The narrator’s suddenly blurted confession is really due to… His own guilt over the murder

18. Which of the following words is closest in meaning to sagacity? • Stylishness • Wisdom • Quickness • Capacity wisdom

19. What is the adverb clause in the following sentence? • “As the bell sounded the hour, there came a knocking at the street door.” As the bell sounded the hour An adverb clause is a subordinate clause that functions as an adverb, modifying a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverb Clauses generally tell when, where, how, why, to what extent, or under what conditions.

20. Which of the following questions is answered by the adverb clause in this sentence from the selection? • “I knew that he had been lying awake ever since the first slight noise, when he had turned in the bed.” When? Why? How? Where? When?

21. Which of the following words is spelled correctly? • Derition • Decision • Explotion • Intension Decision