Poe's "The Black Cat"

"The Black Cat"

By Edgar Allan Poe

Who's afraid of a big black cat?

Read the article linked here: https://www.animalsheltering.org/magazine/articles/whos-afraid-big-black-cat

Open Ended

What does the narrator try to convince the reader that he is not at the beginning of the story?

Open Ended

What does the narrator say he has a “partiality” for?

Open Ended

What superstition does the narrator’s wife make frequent allusions to?

Open Ended

Who is the narrator’s favorite playmate?

Open Ended

How does the narrator’s character change after he gets the black cat?

Open Ended

What “disease” does the narrator say afflicts him?

Open Ended

What does the narrator do to the cat when he bites him?

Open Ended

What does the narrator say is “one of the primitive impulses of the human heart”?

Open Ended

What does the narrator do to the cat “because I knew that in doing so jeopardize[d] my immortal soul”?

Open Ended

What happens to the narrator after he kills the cat?

Open Ended

What appears to the narrator in the den? How is this being different from Pluto the cat? How are they similar?

Open Ended

What image does the narrator see in the white outline on the cat’s chest?

Open Ended

What happens to the narrator’s wife? How does the narrator attempt to conceal this crime?

Open Ended

How does the narrator get caught?

Open Ended

Provide at least two examples of foreshadowing from the story.

Poll

Is the narrator in "The Black Cat" unreliable?

• Yes

• No

Open Ended

Explain your answer to the previous poll.

Homework

Read Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death"