The Tell-Tale Heart

1. The Tell-Tale Heart Edgar Allan Poe (1843)

2. This story omits a good bit of information, which means we must use context clues to infer certain details from the text. • What is an inference? A conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning. You should know…

3. Examples: • If I say Simba, Mufasa, Scar, and Timon, you can infer I am talking about… • Ford, Civic, Volkswagen… • Happy, sad, joyful, angry… You should know…

4. Setting: • Most of the story takes place in the old man’s mansion • However, the story begins in an unknown location You should know…

5. Characters: • A psychologically unstable, unreliable narrator • A rich, genteel old man • Friendly policemen • (Potentially) nosy neighbor You should know…

6. Paranoia: severe distrust of others A Psychologically Unstable, Unreliable Narrator • The angrier someone becomes as they try to tell you they are not crazy, they are probably crazy.

7. Psychological Instability • His obsessions • His deep dislike • of the old man’s cataract • His constantly awareness of the old man’s heartbeat A Psychologically Unstable, Unreliable Narrator

8. A Genteel, Rich Old Man • Has a cataract • Hires the • narrator, though • we are not sure • why

9. Friendly Policemen • Responding to shriek heard by narrator’s neighbor • Unstoppably loquacious

10. (Potentially) Nosy Neighbor • Hears shriek from the old man’s house • Dispatches • police to • investigate

11. Literary Devices in Poe’s “Tale” 1. Amplification: repeating a word or expression while adding more detail to it in order to emphasize what might otherwise be passed over. “I talked more quickly –more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased. I arose and argued about trifles, in a high key and with violent gesticulations; but the noise steadily increased.”

12. Literary Devices in Poe’s “Tale” 2. Apophasis: asserts or emphasizes something by pointedly seeming to pass over, ignore, or deny it. “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.”

13. Literary Devices in Poe’s “Tale” 3. Epithet: an adjective or adjective phrase appropriately qualifying a subject (noun) by naming a key or important characteristic of the subject. “dreadfully nervous”

14. Literary Devices in Poe’s “Tale” 4. Hyperbole: the counterpart of understatement; deliberately exaggerates conditions for emphasis or effect. “evil eye” (vs. diseased eye)

15. Literary Devices in Poe’s “Tale” 5. Metaphor: compares two different things by speaking of one in terms of the other. “He had the eye of a vulture—a pale blue eye, with a film over it.”

16. Literary Devices in Poe’s “Tale” 6. Parenthesis: final form of hyperbaton; consists of a word, phrase, or whole sentence inserted as an aside in the middle of another sentence. “I undid the lantern—oh, so cautiously—cautiously (for the hinges creaked)—I undid it just so much that a single ray fell upon the vulture eye.”

17. Literary Devices in Poe’s “Tale” 7. Rhetorical Question: not answered by the writer because its answer is obvious or so obviously desired, and is usually just yes or no; often used for effect, emphasis, or provocation, or for drawing a conclusion from the facts at hand. “Why would you say that I am mad?”

18. Literary Devices in Poe’s “Tale” 8. Repetition: occurs when certain words or phrases are repeated for a stronger emphasis by the author. “Louder! Louder!Louder! Louder!”

19. Literary Devices in Poe’s “Tale” 9. Imagery: language that appeals to sensory phenomena (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell). “the hinges creaked”

20. Literary Devices in Poe’s “Tale” • 10. Irony • Verbal irony: occurs when there is a contrast between what is said or written and what is really meant. "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 had passed the night."

21. Literary Devices in Poe’s “Tale” • 10. Irony • Situational irony: occurs when the opposite of what one would expect to happen actually happens. Despite murdering and successfully hiding the old man from authorities, the narrator “admit[s] the deed” because he hears the incessant beating of the old man’s heart.

22. Literary Devices in Poe’s “Tale” • 10. Irony • Dramatic irony: occurs when the reader knows something a particular character doesn’t. “I head many things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad?”

23. Gothic Elements in Poe’s “Tale” Haunted castle/eerie architectural setting Anxiety and psychological tension

24. Themes in Poe’s “Tale” 1. Guilt and Innocence

25. Themes in Poe’s “Tale” 2. Sanity and Insanity

26. Themes in Poe’s “Tale” 3. Time

27. dissimulation suavity vexed audacity sagacity gesticulations acuteness dissemble dismembered pulsation Vocabulary

28. The Tell-Tale Heart Edgar Allan Poe (1843)