Tell-tale heart
1) the climax of the story occurs when
a) the narrator sees that the old man's eye is cloudy
b) the neighbors hear a shriek come from the house
c) the policemen began to ask the man questions
d) the near raider here's the heartbeat through the floor
2) tone is best described as the authors
a) feelings about the main character
b) decision to incorporate suspense in the story
c) attitude about the subject of the story
d) approach to the stories overall atmosphere
3) which describes a characteristic of the first-person point of view?
a) it relates only one side of the story
b) it reveals the feelings of all the characters
c) it describes only the main event of the story
d) it develops the pot using a chronological order
4) which description of the setting best supports the eerie mood created by the author?
a) " and then, when i had made a opening sufficient for my head, i put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, that no light shone out, and then i thrust in my head."
b) " and every morning, when the day broke, i went boldly into the chamber, and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he has passed the night."
c) " his room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness, ( for the shutters where close fastened, through fear of robbers,) and so i knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and i kept pushing it on steadily, steadily."
d) " i then replace the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human eye - not even his - could have detected any thing wrong."
5) what question will the reader ask to discover clues as to what the officers witnessed?
a) why did the man invite them into the home so welcomingly?
b) how does the man describe the event of the evening?
c) how does the man describe his actions during the interrogation?
d) what would be the most likely place for the man to hide a corpse?
6) which object in the story best symbolizes the beating of the heart?
a) the bell
b) the watch
c) the lantern
d) the corpse
7) "above all was the sense of hearing acute. i heard all things in the heaven and in the earth."
what is the meaning of acute in the sentence?
a) critical
b) delicate
c) desperate
d) sensitive
8) " i smiled, -for what had i to fear? i bade the gentleman welcome. the shriek, i said, was my own in a dream. the old man, i mentioned, was absent in the country. i took my visitors all over the house. i bade them search - search well. i led them, at length, to his chamber. i showed them his treasures, secure, undisturbed."
which word best describes the tone the author creates in the sentence?
a) indifferent
b) amused
c) confident
d) restrained
9) " in the enthusiasm of my confidence, i brought chairs into the room, and desired them here to rest from their fatigues, while i myself, in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim."
wrich word means the same as audacity as it is used in the sentence?
a) boldness
b) courage
c) firmness
d) resolution
"it increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage."
which word means the same as stimulates in the sentence?
a) instills
b) provokes
c) advances
d) persuades

1. The correct answer is D. When the narrator hears the heartbeat through the floor. Climax is the point when the story reaches the highest tension; it is always the most thrilling part of the story. When the story reaches its climax, it starts to resolve. In this case, everything seems to go well until the narrator hears what he perceives as the dead man’s heartbeat. That’s when he loses control of his behavior and betrays his own feelings, so the policemen can realize the truth.

2. The correct answer is C. Attitude about the subject of the story. The author’s (or the narrator’s) tone conveys his or her feelings about the story that he/she is telling us. In this story, the tone is highly agitated, thereby conveying the narrator’s feeling of extreme nervousness or even insanity (although he tries to prove that he isn’t insane).

3. The correct answer is A. It relates only one side of the story. In this case, the whole story is an account of a murderer who is likely insane, even though he is trying to prove the opposite. We don’t know anything about his victim except for the details that the narrator tells us – that it is an old man with an “Evil Eye”. Furthermore, this is an unreliable narrator, which means that he is very upset, possibly even mentally ill.

4. I believe the correct answer is C. This description is swarming with traditional gothic elements which are used to create an eerie, uncanny atmosphere: black room, thick darkness, closed shutters. What makes it even eerier is the fact that the narrator is sneaking up, so as not to be heard; but he is persistent and resolved to enter the room unnoticed.

5. I believe the correct answer is B. How does the man describe the event of the evening? The most important question around which this narrative revolves is the man’s (in)sanity. He even writes the story to prove that he is not insane. Apparently, his obsession with the old man’s blue eye shows us that he is insane, psychotic, and paranoid. It would be interesting to hear how he described the events after he admitted the crime.

6. I believe the correct answer is B. the Watch. First, the narrator compares the sound of a heartbeat to the ticking of a clock “when enveloped in cotton”. Second, the narrator is obsessed with time. He mentions numerous time references (not always clear or reliable), which reveal his obsession – and this symbolizes his subconscious need to regain control over his disturbed and distressed mind.

7. The correct answer is D. sensitive. He hears everything. Thanks to his mental illness, he probably even hears things that aren’t there. He says that he heard all things in heaven and hell, as if he has been to heaven and hell – and that underlines the fact that his troubled mind invents things that don’t exist. The story is full with auditory references too.

8. I believe the correct answer is C. confident. He is so self-assured that he begins each sentence with “I”. He acts as a reliable person here. In this instance, he was so confident because he had a feeling that he regained control over the situation. He hid all the evidence of his crime, he came up with a story that seemed to explain the shriek in the night. This confident tone is in high contrast with his “normal” behavior.

9. I believe the correct answer is A. boldness. This is not mere courage, firmness, or resolution. This is on the verge of insolence. He takes the visitors through the house, but he doesn’t stop there – he wants to bring them into the room, and even to keep them there for a time, as if he is challenging his fate. He apparently feels unusually strong and powerful at this moment.

10. I believe the correct answer is B. provokes. At this moment, the sound of the heartbeat really provokes him, but he resists the sensation and stays calm. A few moments later, he would burst with rage and kill the old man. The answer isn’t “instills”, as he was already furious. It isn’t “advances”, because his tension is too great. It isn’t “persuades” either, as he doesn’t need persuasion.