"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe

1) What is the main conflict in the story?

• A. man vs. man

• B. man vs. machine

• C. man vs. self

• D. man vs. society

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2) What is the climax of the story?

• A. The narrator plans to kill the old man.

• B. The narrator watches the old man for seven nights.

• C. The narrator kills and dismembers the old man.

• D. The narrator confesses.

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3) Read the following excerpt:

“Pull up the boards and you shall see!”

During which part of the plot does the excerpt take place?

• A. a rising action

• B. a falling action

• C. the climax

• D. the resolution

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4) Read the following excerpt:

“I put in my hand, with the covered light. Suddenly the old man sat straight up in bed and cried, “Who’s there??!”.”

During which part of the plot does the excerpt above take place?

• A. a rising action

• B. a falling action

• C. the climax

• D. the resolution

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5) Based on the evidence in the story, what is the best description of the relationship between the narrator and the old man?

• A. The old man is the father of the narrator.

• B. The narrator is the teacher of the old man.

• C. The old man is the narrator’s boss.

• D. The narrator stalks the old man despite never meeting him formally.

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6) Why did the author choose to write this story in 1^st person point of view?

• A. to show how much the narrator loved the old man.

• B. to fully demonstrate the motivations of the narrator.

• C. to show how easy it is to get away with murder.

• D. to prove that the narrator didn’t kill the old man after all.

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7) You can evaluate the narrator’s state of mind as unreliable when he:

• A. explains that he did not kill the old man for his money

• B. describes how slowly he moved on the night of the murder

• C. confesses in the beginning of the story that he is nervous

• D. says how sane he is but then describes what he does to the body

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8) What is the best evidence from the text that the narrator is mad?

• A. But you should have seen me. During all of that week I was as friendly to the old man as I could be, and warm, and loving.

• B. And every morning I went to his room, and with a warm, friendly voice I asked him how he had slept.

• C. The old man was lying there not dreaming that I was at his door. Suddenly he moved in his bed.

• D. But why does his heart not stop beating?!

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9) Which of the narrator’s qualities most influences the resolution of the conflict?

• A. his intelligence

• B. his mental health

• C. his kind heart

• D. his evil eye

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10) What is a possible theme of the story?

• A. Some things are worth dying for

• B. Hard work is always rewarded

• C. A guilty conscience is a powerful thing

• D. The dead don’t care where they are buried

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