The Pit and the Pendulum

The story is told from which point of view?

• Third-person-limited view of a member of the French army
• Omniscient view of the author
• Third-person view of the inquisitor
• First-person view of the prisoner

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What might explain how the candles seem to change shape from “slender angels” to “meaningless spectres”?

• The candles are magical and can change shape.
• The narrator is hallucinating.
• Inquisitors have changed the candles.
• The candles are imaginary.

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When he comes to after fainting, what does the narrator remember?

• Shadowy figures carrying him to a strange damp place
• His childhood and his parents
• His wife and children back home
• His previous stay in the dungeon

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You can infer that the narrator is frightened about being in the dark because —

• he has always been afraid of the dark
• he knows exactly what torture awaits him
• the unseen is more terrifying than the seen
• he can hear the bats and rats but not see them

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The narrator is afraid that he will find himself in a tomb because he —

• fears that he will be taken from the tomb and tortured
• fears that he has been buried alive
• has always been afraid of tombs
• suspects the tomb will plunge into a bottomless pit

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What fate does the narrator think awaits him?

• Starvation
• The torture of his family
• Public execution
• Many months in the dungeon

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Why did the narrator reject the supposition that he might be dead?

• He rejected it because he felt the people carrying him to his dungeon
• He rejected it because he knew he would have a public execution
• He rejected it because he had thoughts and feelings about what he was experiencing
• He rejected it because he was not ready to die

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When the narrator is sentenced to die, the authorities provide him with food because they —

• feel very sorry for him
• left the food there by mistake
• plan more punishments before he dies
• always feed their prisoners until the end

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The mood of this story is best described as —

• neutral
• romantic
• terrifying
• confusing

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A symbol is —

• a person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and also stands for something beyond itself
• a speech one character speaks while alone on the stage
• words that appeal to the five senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch, or smell
• the time and place where the events take place

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