"The Tell-Tale Heart" Question Challenge

Front

What is the effect of the simile in the lines: “It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.”?

Back

It reveals the narrator’s increased agitation.

Front

What is the meaning of the personification in the lines: “All in vain; because Death, in approaching him, had stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim.”

Back

It reveals the man will soon meet his fate.

Front

Hearkening
“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.” (Paragraph 7)

Back

Listening

Front

What is the author's purpose for using rhetorical questions throughout the passage?

Back

It reveals the narrator’s increased lack of sanity.

Front

Meaning of the simile: “It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.”

Back

The narrator is feeling more anger as time ticks by.

Front

What is the significance of the irony in the excerpt: “But the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst. And now a new anxiety seized me—the sound would be heard by a neighbor! The old man’s hour had come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. He shrieked once—once only.”

Back

It highlights the narrator’s increasing paranoia.

Front

Word from Paragraph 12 that comes from a Latin root meaning “great fear” or “dread”. Options: Vex, Nervous, Terror, Refrained

Back

Terror

Front

What are two different themes of the story?

Back

Things are not always what they seem. / A guilty conscience eventually reveals the truth.

Front

Which sentence suggests that the main character is likely to be insane and therefore may be an unreliable narrator? Options: “And now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the senses?” (Paragraph 11), “I fairly chuckled at the idea; and perhaps he heard me; for he moved on the bed suddenly, as if startled.” (Paragraph 5), “You should have seen how wisely I proceeded—with what caution—with what foresight—with what dissimulation I went to work!” (Paragraph 3), “And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, so that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head.” (Paragraph 4)

Back

“And now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the senses?” (Paragraph 11)

Front

Cunningly (in the sentence: “I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human eye—not even his—could have detected anything wrong.”)

Back

Deceptively