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WorksheetsU1C2 Mastery Challenge: “The Outsider”
Total questions: 10
Worksheet time: 10mins
Read the origin of the word putrid.
from the Latin putridus (“rotten, decayed”)
Based on this information, what is the meaning of the word putrid in paragraph 4?
"Outside, across the putrid moat and under the dark mute trees, I would often lie and dream for hours about what I read in the books; and would longingly picture myself amidst gay crowds in the sunny world beyond the endless forest. Once I tried to escape from the forest, but as I went farther from the castle the shade grew denser and the air more filled with brooding fear; so that I ran frantically back lest I lose my way in a labyrinth of nighted silence."
Dead
Murky
Smelly
Uneven
The author’s use of the first-person point of view in this story enables the reader to —
experience events and feelings through the narrator’s eyes
develop an objective understanding of events as they unfold
know all the characters’ thoughts and feelings at the same time
question the accuracy of the descriptions of events as they occur
Which two statements describe elements of “The Outsider” that make it horror fiction? Select all that apply
It involves events that could occur in everyday life.
It focuses on events from a particular time in history.
It includes imagery that creates a feeling of dread.
D It describes an encounter with an otherworldly being.
It revolves around a character who must solve a problem.
Read the origin of the word assailed.
from the Latin assilire (“to leap upon”)
Based on this information, what is the meaning of the word assailed in paragraph 6?
In the dank twilight I climbed the worn and aged stone stairs till I reached the level where they ceased, and thereafter clung perilously to small footholds leading upward. Ghastly and terrible was that dead, stairless cylinder of rock; black, ruined, and deserted, and sinister with startled bats whose wings made no noise. But more ghastly and terrible still was the slowness of my progress; for climb as I might, the darkness overhead grew no thinner, and a new chill as of haunted and venerable mould assailed me. I shivered as I wondered why I did not reach the light, and would have looked down had I dared. I fancied that night had come suddenly upon me, and vainly groped with one free hand for a window embrasure, that I might peer out and above, and try to judge the height I had attained.
Attacked
Exhausted
Startled
Tripped
Which sentence provides the best summary of paragraphs 6 and 7?
6. In the dank twilight I climbed the worn and aged stone stairs till I reached the level where they ceased, and thereafter clung perilously to small footholds leading upward. Ghastly and terrible was that dead, stairless cylinder of rock; black, ruined, and deserted, and sinister with startled bats whose wings made no noise. But more ghastly and terrible still was the slowness of my progress; for climb as I might, the darkness overhead grew no thinner, and a new chill as of haunted and venerable mould assailed me. I shivered as I wondered why I did not reach the light, and would have looked down had I dared. I fancied that night had come suddenly upon me, and vainly groped with one free hand for a window embrasure, that I might peer out and above, and try to judge the height I had attained.
7. All at once, after an infinity of awesome, sightless crawling up that concave and desperate precipice, I felt my head touch a solid thing, and I knew I must have gained the roof, or at least some kind of floor. In the darkness I raised my free hand and tested the barrier, finding it stone and immovable. Then came a deadly circuit of the tower, clinging to whatever holds the slimy wall could give; till finally my testing hand found the barrier yielding, and I turned upward again, pushing the slab or door with my head as I used both hands in my fearful ascent. There was no light revealed above, and as my hands went higher I knew that my climb was for the nonce ended; since the slab was the trapdoor of an aperture leading to a level surface of greater circumference than the lower tower, no doubt the floor of some lofty and capacious observation chamber. I crawled through carefully, and tried to prevent the heavy slab from falling back into place, but failed in the latter attempt. As I lay exhausted on the stone floor I heard the eerie echoes of its fall, but hoped when necessary to pry it up again.
The narrator climbs the tower and struggles to open a trap door to escape the dark castle.
The narrator climbs the tower and wonders why the light remains out of reach.
After climbing the tower stairs, the narrator continues upward by scaling the wall.
After reaching the tower roof, the narrator keeps searching for a way through the barrier
The description of what the narrator sees in the moonlight in paragraph 10 is important to the excerpt because it —
Most daemoniacal of all shocks is that of the abysmally unexpected and grotesquely unbelievable. Nothing I had before undergone could compare in terror with what I now saw; with the bizarre marvels that sight implied. The sight itself was as simple as it was stupefying, for it was merely this: instead of a dizzying prospect of treetops seen from a lofty eminence, there stretched around me on the level through the grating nothing less than the solid ground, decked and diversified by marble slabs and columns, and overshadowed by an ancient stone church, whose ruined spire gleamed spectrally in the moonlight
demonstrates that the narrator is impressed by his new surroundings
Reveals that the narrator has left one world and entered a different one
explains why the narrator thinks moonlight makes everything look eerie
shows why the narrator wanted to leave the dark castle where he lived
Label the events in the order in which they occur in the story. The first event will be labeled 1, and the last event will be labeled 4.
— The narrator catches a glimpse of a ghastly looking creature.
— The narrator steps through the window of the brightly lit castle.
— The narrator is afraid to know what frightened the people away.
— The narrator watches as the people in the castle scream and run.
1. 2. 3. 4
4, 3, 2, 1
4, 1, 3, 2
4, 3, 1, 2
Which sentence expresses the turning point in the story?
As I lay exhausted on the stone floor I heard the eerie echoes of its fall, but hoped when necessary to pry it up again.
Half unconscious, I opened the grating and staggered out upon the white gravel path that stretched away in two directions.
The nightmare was quick to come; for as I entered, there occurred immediately one of the most terrifying demonstrations I had ever conceived.
I recognized, most terrible of all, the unholy abomination that stood leering before me as I withdrew my sullied fingers from its own.
Write a summary of the plot of "The Outsider"
Paraphrase the following paragraph from "The Outsider"
I now stepped through the low window into the brilliantly lighted room, stepping as I did so from my single bright moment of hope to my blackest convulsion of despair and realisation. The nightmare was quick to come; for as I entered, there occurred immediately one of the most terrifying demonstrations I had ever conceived. Scarcely had I crossed the sill when there descended upon the whole company a sudden and unheralded fear of hideous intensity, distorting every face and evoking the most horrible screams from nearly every throat. Flight was universal, and in the clamour and panic several fell in a swoon and were dragged away by their madly fleeing companions. Many covered their eyes with their hands, and plunged blindly and awkwardly in their race to escape; overturning furniture and stumbling against the walls before they managed to reach one of the many doors.
