Tell Tale Heart: Mood and Tone

Mood is defined as….

• The way the author feels about a text

• The way the reader feels about a text

• The words used to communicate in a text

• The way imagery and sound are used in a text

Tags

CCSS.RL.4.4

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

Tone is defined as…

• The way the author feels about a text

• The way the reader feels about a text

• The words used to communicate in a text

• The way imagery and sound are used in a text

Tags

CCSS.RL.4.4

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

What tone is represented in the line, “You should have seen how wisely I proceeded—with what caution-with what foresight—with what dissimulation I went to work”?

• Focused (Neutral)

• Furious (Negative)

• Grieving (Negative)

• Apathetic (Neutral)

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

In talking about how he went through with the murder, the narrator’s attitude is best described as_____.

If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence. First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs. I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all between the scantlings. I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human eye --not even his --could have detected anything wrong. There was nothing to wash out --no stain of any kind --no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary for that. A tub had caught all --ha! ha!

• Apologetic

• Uncertain

• Proud

• Anxious

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.6

CCSS.RL.6.6

CCSS.RL.7.6

CCSS.RL.8.6

What tone is represented in the line, "So I opened it – you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily – until, at length a simple dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot from out the crevice and fell full upon the vulture eye."

• Scared (Negative)

• Angry (Negative)

• Calm (Neutral)

• Excited (Positive)

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Read the excerpt below. What is the narrator’s tone?

“And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber, and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he has passed the night. So you see he would have been a very profound old man, indeed, to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked in upon him while he slept.”

• Confident (Positive)

• Suspicious (Negative)

• Happy (Positive)

• Terrifying (Negative)

Tags

CCSS.RL.4.4

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

Using the two excerpts below answer the following question: How did the narrator’s tone change throughout “The Tell-Tale Heart”?

TRUE! --nervous --very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? 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. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily --how calmly I can tell you the whole story.

I foamed --I raved --I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder --louder --louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! --no, no! They heard! --they suspected! --they knew! --they were making a mockery of my horror!-this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! and now --again! --hark! louder! louder! louder! louder!

• From happy to angry

• From scared to frantic

• From calm to agitated

• There was no change in mood

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Which excerpt from the story illustrates the mood of paranoia?

• “It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain.“

• “I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult.”

• "Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God!--no, no! They heard!--They suspected!—They knew!”

• “I smiled, --for what had I to fear? I bade the gentlemen welcome.”

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

In the line, “There came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton, “what does the “envelope in cotton” try to make the reader feel?

• Alive

• Trapped

• Threatened

• Serious

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Which detail about the narrator’s personality makes him appear the maddest (crazy)?

• He hears imaginary heartbeats.

• He is so careful to hide everything he does.

• He tries to convince the reader of his sanity. .

• He feels guilty about what he has done and tears up the planks at the end

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.6

CCSS.RL.6.6

CCSS.RL.7.6

CCSS.RL.8.6