The Tell-Tale Heart Quiz

Foreshadowing occurs when a writer provides hints that suggest future events in a story, and it can help create suspense.

How does the narrator’s mention of his acute hearing in paragraph 1 foreshadow the old man’s death?

• It foreshadows the point when the old man’s heartbeat drives the narrator to kill him.

• It foreshadows his ability to hear the police coming when they respond to the old man’s murder.

• It foreshadows his decision to murder the old man because he was tired of listening to him.

• It foreshadows the moment when the old man hears the narrator at the door and wakes up.

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The use of a first-person narrator in the story —

• allows readers to understand each character’s point of view

• helps to explain how the characters are related to each other

• gives readers insight into the narrator’s mental instability

• illustrates how the old man treats the narrator every day

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Choose the two lines from the story that best support the following idea:

The narrator cannot escape his guilty conscience.

• I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observation of men—but the noise steadily increased.

• Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me.

• . . . . I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work. . . . .

• . . . . I talked more freely to get rid of the feeling: but it continued and gained definitiveness— until at length, I found that the noise was not within my ears.

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Choose the two lines from the story that best support the following idea:

The murder does not have a traditional motive.

• I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observation of men—but the noise steadily increased.

• Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me.

• . . . . I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work. . . . .

• . . . . I talked more freely to get rid of the feeling: but it continued and gained definitiveness— until at length, I found that the noise was not within my ears.

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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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Which of the following quotes provides the best support for the following theme/main idea:

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

• “Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees — very gradually — I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever.” (Paragraph 2)

• “Yes, he has been trying to comfort himself with these suppositions; but he had found all in vain. All in vain; because Death, in approaching him, had stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim.” (Paragraph 7)

• “As the bell sounded the hour, there came a knocking at the street door. I went down to open it with a light heart, — for what had I now to fear?” (Paragraph 14)

• “I gasped for breath — and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly — more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased.” (Paragraph 17)

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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 quotes best illustrates the following conflict:

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.

• “The disease had sharpened my senses — not destroyed — not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell.” (Paragraph 1)

• “I knew that he had been lying awake ever since the first slight noise, when he had turned in the bed. His fears had been ever since growing upon him.” (Paragraph 7)

• “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!” (Paragraph 11)

• “‘Villains!’ I shrieked, ‘dissemble no more! I admit the deed! — tear up the planks! — here, here! — it is the beating of his hideous heart!’” (Paragraph 18)

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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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At the end of the story, why does the narrator tell the officers to “tear up the planks” and therefore unveil the corpse?

• because he wants them to stop smiling at him and punish him

• because he believes they hear the heartbeat and are mocking him

• because he wanted to be caught for the crime all along

• because he knew that they would find the evidence eventually

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