Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe
Quiz by Sara Chapman
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20 questions
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- Q1Why did the narrator kill the old man?He did not like the old man's eye.The old man wrote him out of his will.The old man treated him poorly.He had always wanted to kill someone.120s
- Q2I talked more quickly—more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased. This quote means thatTime has symbolically started and he realizes that he is moving towards death.The narrator was getting more nervous, so he really was hearing the old man's heart beating.His own beating heart was being heard by the police officers sitting just across from him.His heartbeat symbolically created a realization that he had done something wrong.120s
- Q3I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed, listening-- just as I have done night after night hearkening to the death watches in the wall. You could prove in court thatthe narrator is crazy for waiting for an entire hour.the narrator watches the narrator die a slow death each night.the narrator was planning the murder and is not insanethe old man trusted the narrator.120s
- Q4Yes he has been trying to comfort himself with these suppositions ; but he had found all in vain. ALL IN VAIN, because Death in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him and enveloped the victim. This quote implies that the narratorwas dying as well but wanted the old man to die first.had tried to comfort the old man by avoiding the conversation of deathwas stalking him night after night waiting to kill him.had good intentions of sparing the old man from a painful death120s
- Q5I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening , and the old man sprang up in the bed, crying out, "Who's there?" I kept quite still and said nothing. This passage creates an overall tone ofmenacedesireconfusionsincerity120s
- Q6Presently, I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. It was not a groan of pain or of grief -- oh, no! It was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe. I knew the sound well. How does Poe create a tone of danger?powerful punctuationthrough vivid verbsthrough visual imagerythrough auditory imagery120s
- Q7ALL IN VAIN, because Death in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him and enveloped the victim. Which literary device is NOT used in this passage?personificationanaphorametaphorimagery120s
- Q8–So I opened it–you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily–until at length a single dim ray like the thread of the spider shot out from the crevice and fell upon the vulture eye. Which literary device is NOT used?Metaphor: comparing vulture eye to deathRepetition: elaborating on the word stealthily to emphasize how cautiously he entered the roomImagery: examining the fact that the door had to be opened in order for him to see the eye.Simile: comparing his thin view of the eye to the thread of a spider120s
- Q9I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. This statement from the narratorcontains significant adjectives which set the tone.is ironicallows the reader to understand his the narrator's motive.proves that the story was written in a third person point-of-view.120s
- Q10I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story. Which literary device is found in the first paragraph of the story which immediately sets a tone of suspense?imageryalliterationpersonificationsimile120s
- Q11What character traits does the murderer pride himself on?his abilities to lie and stealhis intelligence and his patiencehis wit and his confidencehis sneakiness and his fear120s
- Q12Reread the first paragraph of “The Tell-Tale Heart.” TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why WILL you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story. Based on the narrator’s tone, what can you predict about the story?The narrator will become calm in the story.The narrator will be proved to be possibly insane.The narrator will show that he is deeply religious.The narrator will be unjustly accused of a crime.120s
- Q13“As the bell sounded the hour, there came a knocking at the street door.” What might the reader predict from this statement?Neighbors knew the old man was out of town, and had heard something strange from the home.A relative had come to visit the old man.Policemen had been called to the house.The narrator had forgotten someone was coming over to see the old man.120s
- Q14Why do the officers stay long after they search the house and find no evidence of a crime?to learn about the old man and his habitsto await their superior officerto wait until the sun rises so they can more carefully examine the roomto talk to the narrator and learn more about the crime120s
- Q15How do the officers learn that the narrator has murdered the old man?They hear the beating of the murderer’s heart.The murderer admits to committing the crime.They discover the old man’s body in the house.A neighbor who has witnessed the murder tells them who did it.120s