The Tell- Tale Heart

Short Story by Edgar Allan Poe

 The Tell- Tale Heart
LO: To explore Edgar Allan Poe's portrait, research his literary works, writing
style, and techniques.

Listen carefully to the heartbeat and pay attention to the

emotions and feelings it evokes.

• How did the heartbeat make you feel?

• Did it create any suspense or tension?
• What emotions did you associate with it?
 The Tell- Tale Heart
LO: To explore Edgar Allan Poe's portrait, research his
literary works, writing style, and techniques.

THINK-PAIR-SHARE
With a partner, have a brief discussion to share
your thoughts about this portrait of Edgar Allan
Poe. What does the image suggest about the mind
of this well-known author?
The portrait portrays a man with an intense
and mysterious mind; the macabre image
might correspond with the tone of Poe’s
work.
The intensity and mystery conveyed in the
portrait may reflect the haunting themes
often found in Poe's stories and poems,
creating a visual connection to the
atmosphere of his writing.

Macabre refers to something

disturbing, horrifying, or dealing
with death, often in a grim or
gruesome way.
 The Tell- Tale Heart
LO: To explore Edgar Allan Poe's portrait, research his literary works, writing
style, and techniques.

Do some research to learn about the literary works of Edgar Allan

Poe.

Find facts about:

• Poe’s first published work
• The kinds of writing Poe did
• His most famous stories.
 • Why do you think Poe's works often explore dark,
macabre themes? What impact did his use of these
themes have on his audience then and now?
• Investigate the role of setting and atmosphere in Poe's
stories. How does he use these elements to create a sense
of dread and tension, and what effect does it have on the
reader's experience?
• What elements in Poe's writing style make his stories
timeless and influential in the horror and macabre genre?
• Compare Poe's writing style with another author from a
Challenge yourself by different era or genre, such as Mary Shelley, Stephen
answering two thought-
King, and Charles Dickens. How does Poe’s use of
provoking questions or tackle
them all and share your language, symbolism, or storytelling differ or resemble
thoughts with your friends that of the other author?
Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) was born in
Boston to parents who were traveling actors.
Orphaned by the time he was three, he moved
to Virginia, where friends of his family raised
him. As a young man, Poe worked as a
journalist while writing the stories and poems
that would earn him the title “father of the
modern mystery.” After his young wife died,
Poe fell into despair. He passed away two years
later. His dark and sometimes horrifying works
perhaps mirror the darkness and sadness of
his own short life.
1. Poe's Exploration of Dark Themes: Poe delved into dark, macabre themes to evoke
intense emotions and engage readers. His exploration created a gripping and eerie
atmosphere that captivated his audience, then and now, drawing them into the depths of
human psyche and fear.
2. Setting and Atmosphere in Poe's Stories: Poe carefully designed the settings and
atmosphere in his stories, using creepy and unsettling locations to make readers feel
anxious and frightened. This skillful construction immersed readers in a suspenseful and
fearful experience, making the stories more captivating.
3. Timeless Elements in Poe's Writing Style: Poe's mastery of suspense, vivid
descriptions, and psychological depth in characters make his stories timeless. His use of
intricate language and enigmatic symbolism lingers, leaving an indelible mark on the
horror genre.
4. Comparison of Poe's Writing Style with Other Authors: Poe's use of language and
symbolism, especially in cultivating atmosphere and psychological depth, shares
similarities with authors like Mary Shelley and Charles Dickens. However, Stephen King,
while embracing tension and horror, employs a more modern and direct narrative style,
differing from Poe's intricacy and subtlety.
Poe's Exploration of Dark Themes: Poe delved into dark, macabre themes to
evoke intense emotions and engage readers. His exploration created a gripping and
eerie atmosphere that captivated his audience, then and now, drawing them into the
depths of human psyche and fear.

Setting and Atmosphere in Poe's Stories: Poe carefully designed the settings and
atmosphere in his stories, using creepy and unsettling locations to make readers feel
anxious and frightened. This skillful construction immersed readers in a suspenseful
and fearful experience, making the stories more captivating.

Timeless Elements in Poe's Writing Style: Poe's mastery of suspense, vivid

descriptions, and psychological depth in characters make his stories timeless. His
use of intricate language and enigmatic symbolism lingers, leaving an indelible
mark on the horror genre.
Comparison of Poe's Writing Style with Other Authors: Poe's use of language
and symbolism, especially in cultivating atmosphere and psychological depth,
shares similarities with authors like Mary Shelley and Charles Dickens. However,
Stephen King, while embracing tension and horror, employs a more modern and
direct narrative style, differing from Poe's intricacy and subtlety.

Intricacy means complexity with many interconnected details.

Subtlety means a delicate or understated quality, not immediately obvious.
 Let’s reflect on our research

• What interesting or unexpected

information did you come across
during your research about Edgar
Allan Poe?
• Did any particular aspect of Poe's life,
works, or style surprise or intrigue
you? Please share with the class.
• How does the portrait align or differ
from the impression you gained
about Poe through his writings?
The Tell- Tale Heart
Short Story by Edgar Allan Poe
ANALYZE THE IMAGE
You are going to read a story about the murder of an old man by a
person who lives with him. What are potential reasons or motives
that could drive someone to murder a person they live with?
 The Tell- Tale Heart
LO: Identify and analyze the elements that contribute to fear in literature

Fear in literature and storytelling is a

Think about the role of fear in
powerful tool that captivates readers. A
literature and storytelling. What truly frightening story can be achieved
makes a story truly frightening? through supernatural elements,
Is it the supernatural elements, psychological aspects, or a combination
the psychological aspects, or of both. Effective storytelling techniques
such as suspense, tension, pacing, and
something else?
atmosphere also contribute to creating a
chilling experience. Ultimately, fear is
subjective and deeply personal.
Quick Write: In your notebook, write down A reliable narrator is trustworthy,
what is the difference is between a reliable presents facts accurately, and is
and unreliable narrator. consistent in their storytelling. However,
you can’t always believe everything you
• Why do you think it's important for a learn from a first-person narrator.
narrator to be trustworthy in a story? How An unreliable narrator is a narrator
does it change the way you feel about the whose story cannot be trusted for some
events in the plot?
• Can a story still be enjoyable if the narrator
reason—he or she might be purposefully
is not reliable? Why or why not? lying, mentally unstable, or too young to
• What clues or hints in a story might fully understand events. To determine
suggest that the narrator is not telling the whether or not a narrator is reliable,
whole truth? consider his or her actions, attitudes, and
statements, and then decide whether he
or she is generally trustworthy.
It's crucial for a narrator to be trustworthy because it affects how readers interpret
and engage with the story. A reliable narrator builds trust and credibility, making
events seem believable and creating an immersive experience. This trust can deeply
impact how readers perceive the plot, characters, and overall narrative.

A story can still be enjoyable with an unreliable narrator. The unreliability can add
depth and intrigue to the plot, offering surprises and challenging readers to interpret
the story in different ways. This can make the narrative more engaging and thought-
provoking.

Clues that might suggest an unreliable narrator include inconsistencies in their

storytelling, contradictions in descriptions, biased opinions, or suspicious behaviors
within the narrative. The narrator's language, actions, or reactions that don't align
with what's expected could hint at the narrator's potential untruthfulness.
 The Tell- Tale Heart
Preview the text by looking at the pictures and reading the captions. What do you
predict this story will be about?
What is the setting? What is the time period? What does the environment look
like?

• Time = We do not know exactly when the actions take place (in a historical
context), but we can estimate the timeframe to be over the course of a week
with most events happening around midnight.

• Place = The location is the home of an elderly man in which the narrator has
become a caretaker.
 The Tell- Tale Heart

Think Pair Share: What is the difference between madness and

paranoia.
Do you believe madness and paranoia are always easily
distinguishable from each other? Why or why not?
Why do you think authors or filmmakers use characters with
madness or paranoia in their stories? How does it add to the plot
or the audience's experience?
Madness describes when someone has a It's hard to tell the difference
severe mental problem that makes them act because both can make someone
in unusual ways and lose touch with act strangely or have unusual
reality. It might lead to behaviors that seem thoughts. But madness affects a
strange or irrational. Paranoia, on the person's overall reality, while
other hand, is a type of extreme fear or paranoia often focuses on specific
suspicion where someone feels like they're fears.
being targeted or watched. It can make
them believe in things that aren't true, like
thinking someone is plotting against them.

Authors and filmmakers include characters with madness or paranoia to

make their stories more interesting and engaging. These characters create
suspense and mystery in the plot, making the audience curious and
excited about what might happen next.
Stretch Challenge: What is suspense? How do writers usually create
suspense in the story?
How might a story change if there was no element of suspense? Would it
still be engaging or impactful?
Have you ever encountered a story where you predicted the outcome too
easily and felt there was no suspense? What elements could the writer
have added to make it more engaging?

How might the creation of suspense differ in various genres, such as

mystery, horror, or adventure stories? Are there genre-specific techniques
for building suspense?
“The Tell-Tale Heart” is narrated by an
unbalanced man who kills an old man for
reasons that seem to make sense only to
the killer. After murdering the old man,
the narrator conceals his work and calmly
greets police officers who have been sent
to the scene by reports of screams. The
narrator deflects the officers’ concerns,
but he soon becomes aware of a sound
that he believes is the beating of his dead
victim’s heart. Though the sound is heard https://quizizz.com/ad
only by him, he abruptly confesses his min/quiz/5bd67fa5784
210001af20e7e/the-tell
crime. -tale-heart
The Tell- Tale Heart
Short Story by Edgar Allan Poe
LO: Understand how the narrator's point of view creates suspense and influences
the reader's trust in the story.

“The Tell-Tale Heart” is narrated by an unbalanced man who

kills an old man for reasons that seem to make sense only to the
killer. After murdering the old man, the narrator conceals his
work and calmly greets police officers who have been sent to
the scene by reports of screams. The narrator deflects the
officers’ concerns, but he soon becomes aware of a sound that
he believes is the beating of his dead victim’s heart. Though the
sound is heard only by him, he abruptly confesses his crime.
LO: Understand how the narrator's point of view creates suspense and influences
the reader's trust in the story.

Quick Write:
• What might cause feelings of guilt in a
person?
• Can obsession drive someone to do
extreme things?
LO: Understand how the narrator's point of view creates suspense and influences
the reader's trust in the story.

Watch the video "Analyzing the Effects of

Point of view is the method of
Point of View" available on the HMH
narration used in a short story, novel, platform. Take notes to share them with
narrative poem, or work of nonfiction. the rest of the class.
In a story told from the third-person https://www.hmhco.com/content/literat/
point of view, the narrator, or the common/literature_video_player/index.ht
voice that tells the story, is an outside ml?custom_correlation_id=3d4e333e-6b0
3-4e2b-b246-731dad8990c4&refid=ngl_pc
observer. In a story told from the first- _1141c_view
person point of view, the narrator is a
character and uses the pronouns I,
me, and we.
You can’t always believe everything you learn from a first-
person narrator. An unreliable narrator is a narrator
whose story cannot be trusted for some reason—he or she
might be purposefully lying, mentally unstable, or too
young to fully understand events. To determine whether
or not a narrator is reliable, consider his or her actions,
attitudes, and statements, and then decide whether he or
she is generally trustworthy.
What reason does the narrator give for wanting to harm the old man?

1 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.

Hearken: listen
Acute :ending in a sharp point

The reason the narrator wants to harm the old man is because of the old man's eye,
which the narrator refers to as the "vulture eye." The eye is described as "pale
blue" with a disturbing film over it. The narrator finds this eye disturbing and
believes it to be evil, driving him to commit a terrible act.
2 It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it
haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the
old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had
no desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture—a pale
blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by
degrees—very gradually—I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and
thus rid myself of the eye forever.

Does the narrator’s opinion of himself in paragraphs 1–2 make him seem more
reliable or less? Explain your choice.

The narrator’s statements are immediately suspicious because he mentions “the

disease” and its impact on his senses. His further comments suggest that he has a
very exaggerated view of his own intelligence.
 What prevents the narrator
from killing the old man
during the first seven nights?
Explain how his inaction
contributes to the story’s
suspense.

The narrator waits to kill the old man because he wants the “vulture
eye” to be open. Readers sense the narrator’s mounting anxiety and
feel tense about what will happen when the eye finally opens.
Reread paragraphs 9–11. What do readers learn from this first-person
narration about the narrator’s subjective or personal experience?

The narrator claims to hear the old man’s heart beating. The murderer
describes his own anger at the sound, telling readers his exact thoughts
and feelings.

Does the reader’s inability to trust the narrator increase the suspense
in this story? Explain your answer.

Yes. The reader cannot trust the narrator’s description of events and
wonders what really happened, which adds to the tension.