Suspense in The Tell-Tale Heart

“Villains!” I shrieked, “dissemble no more! I admit the deed!—tear up the planks! here, here!—It is the beating of his hideous heart!” What kind of suspense is being used here?

• A. Dramatic Irony

• B. Setting

• C. Sympathetic Characters

“Meantime the hellish tattoo of the heart increased. It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant. The old man’s terror must have been extreme! It grew louder, I say, louder every moment!” What kind of suspense is created by this sentence?

• A. Dramatic Irony

• B. Sympathetic Characters

• C. Setting

“It was a low, dull, quick sound—much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well too. It was the beating of the old man’s heart. It increased my fury as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.” This creates suspense through:

• A. Setting

• B. Sympathetic Characters

• C. Dramatic Irony

“And then, when my head was well in the room, I undid the lantern cautiously—oh, so cautiously—cautiously (for the hinges creaked), I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye.” What technique is being used to build suspense here?

• A. Dramatic Irony

• B. Sympathetic Characters

• C. Setting

“Never before that night had I felt the extent of my own powers—of my sagacity. I could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph.” What kind of suspense is this?

• A. Sympathetic Characters

• B. Dramatic Irony

• C. Setting

“His room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness, (for the shutters were close fastened, through fear of robbers,) and so I knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and I kept pushing it on steadily, steadily.” What is creating suspense here?

• A. Dramatic Irony

• B. Sympathetic Characters

• C. Setting

“Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. It was not a groan of pain or of grief—oh, no!—it was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe.” What kind of suspense is being portrayed?

• A. Sympathetic Characters

• B. Setting

• C. Dramatic Irony

“And now a new anxiety seized me—the sound would be heard by a neighbour!” What kind of suspense is this?

• A. Dramatic Irony

• B. Sympathetic Characters

• C. Setting

“I smiled,—for what had I to fear? I bade the gentlemen welcome.” This line builds suspense through:

• A. Setting

• B. Dramatic Irony

• C. Sympathetic Characters

“I bade them search—search well. I led them, at length, to his chamber. I showed them his treasures, secure, undisturbed.” What kind of suspense does this represent?

• A. Sympathetic Characters

• B. Dramatic Irony

• C. Setting