The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

PART A: 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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PART B: Which of the following quotes provides the best support for the answer to Part A? A. B. C. D.

• “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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PART A: 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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PART B: Which of the following quotes best supports the answer to Part A?

• “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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Which of the narrator's senses does he say is most acute?

• Sight
• Smell
• Hearing
• Taste

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Why does the narrator want to kill the old man?

• He wants the old man's gold
• He hates the old man
• Kill him? Who said anything about killing him?!
• The old man's eye vexes him

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Where does the narrator hide the old man's corpse?

• In the closet
• He buries it in the yard
• He buries it in the floorboards
• He dumps it in the river

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What worries the narrator the most about the sound he hears on the 8th night?

• A neighbor will hear it
• The police will hear it
• It means that he is insane
• It will wake up the old man

How does the narrator murder the old man?

• Murder him? Who said anything about murder?!
• He smothers him with the mattress
• He poisons him at breakfast
• He stabs him in the heart

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