The Tell-Tale Heart

Which statement best describes a major theme of the story?

• Honesty can relieve you of your guilt and help you feel better.

• Fear can shape how we see things and how we act.

• Our sanity is determined by how we react to different situations.

• The truth is a matter of personal perception and beliefs.

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CCSS.RL.8.2

In the story, what causes the conflict between the narrator and the old man?

• The narrator and the old man resent having to live together because of the narrator’s disease, and so the narrator decides to murder the old man.

• The narrator is driven mad by the sound of a heart beating beneath the floorboards, and this causes him to kill the old man.

• The narrator watches the old man sleep, and when the terrified old man discovers this, the narrator kills him to keep his madness hidden.

• The narrator is terrified of the old man’s blue eye and overwhelmed by the sound of his heartbeat, so the narrator kills the old man.

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Which of the following best describes the significance of the beating heart throughout the story?

• It represents the narrator’s own death, like the old man’s, drawing near as he faces punishment for his crime.

• It shows there is something supernatural happening to the narrator, for the ghost of the old man is haunting him.

• It represents the narrator’s guilt and worsening sanity, for the beating heart serves as a reminder of his crime.

• It signifies the narrator’s anxiety about not burying the old man respectfully after killing him.

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What do we learn about the narrator from the following line?

“I knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although I chuckled at heart.”

• He is cruel.

• He is compassionate.

• He is honest.

• He is calm.

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What is the purpose of the figurative language used in the following line?

“…because Death, in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim.”

• The author is trying to exaggerate the old man's feeling of fear.

• The author is using a simile to compare death to victims.

• The personification of death illustrates a sinister tone.

• The black shadow is symbolic of the night sky.

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How does the narrator murder the old man?

• he stabs the old man in the heart

• he poison’s the old man’s dinner

• he sets the mattress on fire

• he suffocates the old man

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CCSS.RL.8.1

What do we learn about the narrator when he asks the police officers to sit and rest in the same room where he’s hidden the body?

• he’s careless

• he's confident

• he's insane

• he's rude

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Why does the narrator think the police officers don’t hear the noise?

• he thinks they’re mocking him by pretending not to hear it

• he thinks they are old and hard-of-hearing

• he thinks they are too scared to say anything about the noise

• he thinks that they’re too far away to hear it

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What is the significance of the title, "The Tell-Tale Heart"?

• It refers to the beating heart that eventually drives the narrator to confess his crime.

• It refer to the old man's heart problems.

• It shows that the narrator is known for making up false stories.

• It highlights the kind nature of the old man who is killed.

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In paragraph 1, the best meaning of the word, acute is

• weak

• magnified

• difficult

• confusing

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