36 pages • 1 hour read
Edgar Allan PoeThe Tell-Tale Heart
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1843A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
Reading Check
1. What animal does the narrator compare the old man’s eye to?
2. What does the narrator do every night for a week prior to the old man’s murder?
3. What does the light shine upon when the narrator opens the door to the old man’s room?
4. What does the narrator insist that their self-proclaimed “over acuteness of the senses” is being misinterpreted as?
5. Which noise torments the narrator at the end of the story?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What physical aspect of the old man unnerves the narrator? What do they decide to do to rectify the issue?
2. In the moments before the murder, what sound does the narrator hear? How does it lead them to perform the crime?
3. What does the narrator do with the old man’s corpse? How do they feel about the way they handled the aftermath of the murder?
4. Why do the policemen visit the house? What does the narrator do to appease them?
5. Why does the narrator insist that the policemen tear up the floorboards? How does this request contradict the narrator’s earlier beliefs?
Paired Resources
- Jules Dassin directed this 1941 film adaptation of Poe’s short story.
- This resource connects to the themes of The Line Between Madness and Rationality and The Balance Between Fear and Power.
- How does Dassin’s film adaptation address ambiguities from Poe’s original narration?
- This entry from Cornell Law School explores the establishment of the M'Naghten rule.
- This information relates to the theme of The Line Between Madness and Rationality.
- Does the narrator’s argument fit within the requirements of the M'Naghten rule? Why or why not?
Recommended Next Reads
“William Wilson” by Edgar Allan Poe
- In this short story, a tormented narrator recounts his fall into “madness” as he confronts a troublesome doppelganger.
- This connects with the themes of The Line Between Madness and Rationality and The Balance Between Fear and Power.
- Shared topics include Gothic literature and tormented narrators.
- “William Wilson” on SuperSummary
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
- James’s 1898 novella centers on a governess who believes her pupils are being stalked by their former mentors (please note: this Recommended Read connects to the Paired Text Extension).
- This connects with the themes of The Line Between Madness and Rationality and The Balance Between Fear and Power.
- Shared topics include Gothic literature and tormented narrators.
- The Turn of the Screw on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
Reading Check
1. A vulture (Paragraph 2)
2. The narrator “looked in upon him while he slept.” (Paragraph 3)
3. “[T]he vulture eye” of the old man, which was “wide open” (Paragraphs 8-9)
4. “Madness” (Paragraph 10)
5. The beating of the old man’s heart (Paragraph 18)
Short Answer
1. The narrator is unnerved by the old man’s eye. They note that when it falls upon them, it makes their “blood [run] cold.” The narrator decides to “take the life of the old man” to rid themselves “of the eye forever.” (Paragraph 2)
2. As the narrator gazes upon the old man’s eye, they begin to hear the old man’s heart beating. This sound “excite[s] [the narrator] to uncontrollable terror,” bringing them to a frenzy as they open the lantern, “drag [the old man] to the floor, and pull the heavy bed over him,” suffocating him with the mattress. (Paragraph 11)
3. The narrator dismembers the old man’s corpse and hides it under the floorboards in the chamber. Pleased with how they handled the murder, the narrator states, “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!” (Paragraphs 12-13)
4. After hiding the old man’s limbs under the floorboards, the narrator hears a knock at the door. It is four o’clock in the morning, and the policemen are responding to a complaint; one of the neighbors heard a scream. The narrator tells the policemen the old man is not at home and confidently leads them around the house, showing them the old man’s “treasures, secure, undisturbed.” Eventually, the narrator sets up furniture for them to rest above the spot where the old man’s limbs were hidden. (Paragraphs 14-16)
5. After giving the policemen a tour of the house, the narrator is confident that their “manner had convinced them” of their innocence; however, as time progresses, they begin to hear a ringing noise, which they soon believe is the beating heart of the old man. This realization torments them. As the beating heart grows louder, they become convinced that the policemen can hear it too, and that they must know the narrator is guilty. The narrator then asks the policemen to rip up the floorboards and find the corpse. (Paragraphs 16-18)
Related Titles
By Edgar Allan Poe
