It Is Moby Dick Ye Have Seen

Captain Ahab addresses his men on the ship and explains what mission they are about to undertake.

Chapter 36 (...) When the entire ship's company were assembled, and with curious and not wholly unapprehensive faces, were eyeing him, for he looked not unlike the weather horizon when a storm is coming up, Ahab, after rapidly glancing over the bulwarks, and then darting his eyes among the crew, started from his stand-point; and as though not a soul were nigh him resumed his heavy turns upon the deck. With bent head and half-slouched hat he continued to pace, unmindful of the wondering whispering among the men; till Stubb cautiously whispered to Flask, that Ahab must have summoned them there for the purpose of witnessing a pedestrian feat. But this did not last long. Vehemently pausing, he cried: – 'What do ye do when ye see a whale, men?' 'Sing out for him!' was the impulsive rejoinder from a score of clubbed voices. 'Good!' cried Ahab, with a wild approval in his tones; observing the hearty animation into which his unexpected question had so magnetically thrown them. 'And what do ye next, men?' 'Lower away, and after him!' 'And what tune is it ye pull to, men?' 'A dead whale or a stove boat!' More and more strangely and fiercely glad and approving, grew the countenance of the old man at every shout; while the mariners began to gaze curiously at each other, as if marvelling how it was that they themselves became so excited at such seemingly purposeless questions. But, they were all eagerness again, as Ahab, now half-revolving in his pivot-hole, with one hand reaching high up a shroud and tightly, almost convulsively grasping it, addressed them thus: – 'All ye mast-headers have before now heard me give orders about a white whale. Look ye! D'ye see this Spanish ounce of gold?' – holding up a broad bright coin to the sun – 'it is a sixteen dollar piece, men. D'ye see it? Mr Starbuck, hand me yon top-maul.' While the mate was getting the hammer, Ahab, without speaking, was slowly rubbing the gold piece against the skirts of his jacket, as if to heighten its lustre, and without using any words was meanwhile lowly humming to himself, producing a sound so strangely muffled and inarticulate that it seemed the mechanical humming of the wheels of his vitality in him. Receiving the top-maul from Starbuck, he advanced towards the main­mast with the hammer uplifted in one hand, exhibiting the gold with the other, and with a high raised voice exclaiming: 'Whoseover of ye raises me a white-headed whale with a wrinkled brow and a crooked jaw, whosoever of ye raises me that white-headed whale, with three holes punctured in his starboard fluke – look ye, whoseover of ye raises me that same white whale, he shall have this gold ounce, my boys!' 'Huzza! huzza!' cried the seamen, as with swinging tarpaulins they hailed the act of nailing the gold to the mast. 'It's a white whale, I say', resumed Ahab, as he threw down the top-maul; 'a white whale. Skin your eyes for him, men; look sharp for white water; if ye see but a bubble, sing out.' All this while Tashtego, Daggoo, and Queequeg had looked on with even so more intense interest and surprise than the rest, and at the mention of the wrinkled brow and crooked jaw they had started as if each was separately touched by some specific recollection. 'Captain Ahab', said Tashtego, 'that white whale must be the same that some call Moby Dick.' 'Moby Dick?' shouted Ahab. 'Do ye know the white whale then, Tash?' 'Does he fan-tail a little curious, sir, before he goes down?' said the Gay header deliberately. 'And has he a curious spout', too,' said Daggoo, 'very bushy, even for a parmacetty, and mighty quick, Captain Ahab?' 'And he have one, two, three – oh! good many iron in him hide, too, Captain,' cried Queequeg disjointedly, 'all twisketee betwisk, like him – him – faltering hard for a word, and screwing his hand round and round as though uncorking a bottle – 'like him – him –.' 'Corkscrew'! cried Ahab, 'aye. Queequeg, the harpoons lie all twisted and wrenched in him; aye, Daggoo, his spout is a big one, like a whole shock of wheat, and white as a pile of our Nantucket wool after the great annual sheep-shearing; aye, Tashtego and he fan-tails like a split jib in a squall. Death and devils! men, it is Moby Dick ye have seen – Moby Dick – Moby Dick!' 'Captain Ahab', said Starbuck, who, with Stubb and Flask, had thus farbeen eyeing his superior with increasing surprise, but at last seemed struck with a thought which somewhat explained all the wonder. 'Captain Ahab, I have heard of Moby Dick – but it was not Moby Dick that took off thyleg?' 'Who told thee that?' cried Ahab; then pausing, 'Aye, Starbuck; aye my hearties all round; it was Moby Dick that dismasted me; Moby Dick that brought me to this dead stump I stand on now. Aye, aye,' he shouted with a terrific, loud, animal sob, like that of a heart-strickenmoose'; 'Aye, aye! it was that accursed white whale that razeed me; made a poor pegging lubber of me for ever and a day!' Then tossingboth arms, with measureless imprecations he shouted out: 'Aye, aye! and I'll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelström, and round perdition's flames before I give him up. And this is what ye have shipped for, men! to chase that white whale on both sides of land, and over all sides of earth, till he spouts black blood and rolls fin out. What say ye, men, will ye splice hands on it, now? I think ye do look brave.' "Aye, aye!' shouted the harpooneers and seamen, running closer to the excited old man: 'A sharp eye for the White Whale; a sharp lance for Moby Dick!' 'God bless ye,' he seemed to half sob half shout. 'God bless ye, men. Steward! go draw the great measure of grog. But what's this long face about, Mr. Starbuck; wilt thou not chase the white whale? art not game for Moby Dick?' "I am game for his crooked jaw, and for the jaws of Death too, Captain Ahab, if it fairly comes in the way of the business we follow; but I came here to hunt whales, not my commander's vengeance. How many barrels will thy vengeance yield thee even if thou gettest it, Captain Ahab? It will not fetch thee much in our Nantucket market.' 'Nantucket market! Hoot! But come closer, Starbuck; thou requirest a little lower layer. If money's to be the measure, man, and the accountants have computed their great counting-house the globe, by girdling it with guineas, one to every three parts of an inch; then, let me tell thee, that my vengeance will fetch a great premium here!' 'He smites his chest,' whispered Stubb, 'what's that for? Methinks it rings more vast, but hollow.' 'Vengeance on a dumb brute!' cried Starbuck, 'that simply smote thee bam blindest instinct! Madness! 'To be enraged with a dumb thing, Captain Ahab, seems blasphemous.'

† General understanding

1. What does Captain Ahab do in front of the assembled crew before he starts his speech? How does Ahab react to the crew's replies to his questions?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What does he do with the gold coin? Who will the coin be given to?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What are the distinguishing features of the white whale Ahab wishes to hunt?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What injury did Moby Dick inflict on Ahab? What does he promise to do to avenge his injury?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. What objection does Starbuck raise to Ahab's plan to hunt Moby Dick? Explain why Starbuck does not approve of Ahab's desire for revenge.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

† Literary analysis

The aim of Ahab's speech is to manipulate the crew into collaborating with him in his quest for Moby Dick. Examine the devices he uses to whip the crowd into a frenzy.

a. Why does Ahab pace in silence before starting his speech?

£ He is not sure what he is going to say.

£ He wants the crowd to be silent before he begins.

£ He wishes to create expectancy and suspense.

b. The captain is compared to the 'weather horizon when a storm is coming up'. There is latent tension and violence in this image. Does the way the captain begins his speech confirm this tension or diffuse it?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

c. Why do you think that the questions the captain asks are 'unexpected'? (You may choose more than one option.)

£ Because they are difficult to answer.

£Because everybody knows the answers.

£ Because they seem irrelevant in this climate of tension.

£ Because the crew expected the captain to talk – not to ask questions.

d. Underline expressions in the text which indicate the reaction of the crowd to Ahab's questioning, for example: 'observing the hearty animation into which his unexpected question had so magnetically thrown them'.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What is Ahab's purpose in asking these questions? (You may choose more than one option.)

£He wishes to show the men that he respects their opinion.

£ He wishes to glorify and romanticise whale hunting.

£ He wishes to unite the men and create a crowd mentality.

£ He wishes to know the answers.

e. The captain hammers a gold coin worth sixteen dollars to a mast as a reward for the man who sights Moby Dick. If the captain had simply said that he was going to give the money as a reward, would it have had the same effect? What purpose does the ritual of hammering the coin to the mast serve?

£ It transforms the money into a precious prize worth more than its simple economic value.

£It makes the men want the coin more because they can see it.

£It is a constant reminder to the crew that their main purpose on the ship is hunting Moby Dick.

f. Moby Dick is first mentioned by name in line 55. How is tension increased from that moment to the point where Ahab repeats the whale's name? (Line 67)

2. Focus onthe character of Captain Ahab.

a. In the opening paragraph Captain Ahab is compared to the 'weather horizon when a storm is coming up'. Find subsequent references in the text where Captain Ahab is associated with:

- a machine;

- a wild animal.

What image of Captain Ahab do these associations create?

b. When he addresses the crew, Captain Ahab refers to them as his 'men', 'boys', 'hearties'. How would you define the relationship between the captain and his crew?

c. The psychological impact of losing his leg is conveyed through the repeated references Captain Ahab makes to his disability in lines 75-79. Underline the expressions he uses to describe his condition. Which do you find the most effective and why?

d. At which point in the text does Captain Ahab reveal the extent of his hatred for Moby Dick and the lengths to which he would go to have his revenge?

e. Which adjectives would you use to describe Captain Ahab on the basis of your analysis?

£ Brave

£ Manipulative

£ Obsessed

£ Caring

£ Heroic

£ Proud

3. Find examples of simile, repetition and parallelisms in Captain Ahab's speech. How would you define the style of the language he uses?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Does the use of nautical and technical terms (i.e. mast-headers, top-maul) make the passage more realistic or add to the mysterious atmosphere of the scene? Justify your opinion.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Starbuck is the only man in the crew who questions Captain Ahab's plans. What does he represent in the context of the passage?

£The rebellion of the crew

£ The voice of reason against their superiors

£ Cowardice

6. Critics have argued at length about how to interpret Captain Ahab. Some sustain that he is a tragic hero fighting against the undefeatable forces of nature and destiny. Others maintain that he is an obsessed individual who refuses to accept his own destiny and who offends Cod and nature by his actions. Find evidence in the passage which would support both these points of view.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. The name a writer chooses for his character is often very important. Names have strong associations and can also provide information about a character's social, economic and ethnic background. Some writers choose allusive or symbolic names: these names immediately establish a link with another real or fictional figure. The reader may gain greater insight into the mind of the character by comparing and contrasting him to the person he has been named after. The protagonist of Melville's novel Moby Dick is named after a King from the Old Testament. The link between the two figures is established at the beginning of the novel:

Peleg: 'He's Ahab, boy; and Ahab of Old, thou knowest, was a crowned ting!'

Ishmael: 'And a very vile one. When the wicked king was slain, the dogs, did they not lick his blood?'

Do some research on Ahab, King of the Israelites. His story is contained in the book of Kings. Find out why he was considered a wicked king. What does this symbolic use of names suggest about Captain Ahab in Melville's work?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Create a character who shares the name and some characteristic of a great figure from history or culture. For example:

She looked at her watch again. Where was Ulysses? Why was he taking so long? It seemed as though he had been gone a lifetime. Why hadn’t he called her if he knew he was going to be late?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

† Extra task. Whale hunting is still carried on today, especially in the North Atlantic and off the coast of Japan. Organize a debate in class on the issue 'Whale hunting should be banned'. Here are some ideas to help you:

Against: 1. Eating whale meat is no different from eating cow or pig meat.

2. Whales provide us with materials that are used in many everyday objects, for example umbrellas, watch springs, brushes, tennis rackets strings and sausage skins.

For: 1. Whales will become extinct if we continue hunting them.

2. It is a cruel way of killing animals.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Edgar Allan Poe

Narrative technique

1^st-person narrative.

Using the first-person narrative technique write the opening five to ten lines of a fictional work that you think would capture the attention of readers:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

The English saying ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’ means that there is something positive about any negative situation. For example, in the terrible event of someone close to us dying, we often realize how important friends and relatives are and appreciate them more than we normally would.

Think of a situation where a cloud has a silver lining and tell your classmates about it.

 

The Tell-Tale Heart

 

Do you have any of the following irrational fears? Fear of:

 flying  small spaces cats  birds  dentists

 mice / rats being alone darkness  mirrors  crowds

 clowns  open spaces  dogs  сlocks spiders/insects

 

Do people ever bother you for illogical reasons? Have you ever met anyone and taken an instant dislike to them for no obvious reason?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Eye

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 bearing 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.

It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture – a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees – very gradually – I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.

Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But is you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded – with what caution – with what foresight – with what dissimulation I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night, about midnight, 1 turned the latch of his door and opened it – oh so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly – very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! Would a madman have been so wise as this. 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. And this I did for seven long nights – every night just at midnight – but I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye. 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.

Upon the eighth night I was more than usually cautious in opening the door. A watch's minute hand moves more quickly than did mine. Never before that night had I felt the extent of my own powers – of my sagacity. I could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph. To think that there I was, opening the door, little by little, and he not even to dream of my secret deeds or thoughts. I fairly chuckled at the idea; and perhaps he heard me; for he moved on the bed suddenly, as if startled. Now you may think that I drew back – but no. 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.

I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening, and the old man sprang up in bed, crying so out – 'Who's there?' I kept quite still and said nothing, tor a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed listening; – just as I have done, night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall.

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. I knew the sound well. Many a night, just at midnight, when all the world slept, it has welled up from my own bosom, deepening, with its dreadful echo, the terrors that distracted me. I say I knew it well. I knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although I chuckled at heart. I knew that he had been lying awake ever since the first slight noise, when he had turned in the bed. His fears had been ever since growing upon him. Lie had been trying to fancy them causeless, but could not. He had been saying to himself – 'It is nothing but the wind in the chimney – it is only a mouse crossing the floor, or 'It is merely a cricket which has made a single chirp.' Yes, he had been trying to comfort himself with these suppositions: but he had found all in vain. All in vain; because Death, in approaching him, had stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim. And it was the mournful influence of the unperceived shadow that caused him to feel – although he neither saw nor heard – to feel the presence of my head within the room.

When I had waited a long time, very patiently, without hearing him lie down, I resolved to open a little – a very, very little crevice in the lantern. 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.

It was open – wide, wide open – and I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect distinctness – all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in my bones; but I could see nothing else of the old man's face or person; for I had directed the ray as if by instinct, precisely upon the damned spot.

And have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the sense? – Now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, as quick sound, such 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.

But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed. I held the lantern motionless. I tried how steadily I could maintain the ray upon the eye. 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! – Do you mark me well I have told you that I am nervous: so I am. And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror. Yet, for some minutes longer I refrained and stood still. But the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst. And now a new anxiety seized me – the sound would be heard by a neighbour!

† General understanding:

1. How had the disease affected the narrator's sense of hearing?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Which physical aspect of the old man disturbed the narrator?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. How did the narrator treat the o!d man during the week before he killed him?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What did the narrator do for seven nights in a row?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Why was he unable to do his 'work'?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. What caused the old man to wake up?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. When, according to the narrator, did he himself groan with terror?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. What did the narrator see in the ray of light from the lantern?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. What sound did the narrator fear would be heard by the neighbours?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

† Literary analysis:

1. What kind of narrator tells the story?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. How would you describe the way the story begins?

 Dramatic  Startling Unorthodox

 Conventional Confusing Other: _________________________

3. a. The narrator repeatedly rejects the suggestion that he is mad. In lines 2-3 he says that madness dulls the senses, while his senses are sharp. Find other statements in which the narrator dissociates himself from madness and madmen.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

b. He also makes several references to his sagacity. In line 1 he says 'You should have seen how wisely I proceeded'. Find other sentences in which the narrator refers to his wisdom.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

c. Is the narrator's claim to be sane and wise convincing? Is it supported by his behavior? Justify your answer by referring to the text.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Underline sentences in which the narrator:

· addresses the reader directly;

· assumes that he knows what the reader is thinking. How would you define the relationship that is established between the reader and the narrator?

 Disconcerting  Tense  Relaxed

 Friendly  Overpowering  Other: _____________________

5. The narrator identifies the old man's eye as the source of his discomfort.

a. Circle references to the eye in the text. Does he ever refer to both of the old man's eyes? How does referring to a single eye reinforce the association with a vulture's eye?

b. What effect does focusing on a single eye have?

 It makes the old man seem ugly.

It makes the crime more justifiable.

It dehumanises the old man.

Other: ________________________________.

 

The Old Man's Hour Had Come

The old man's hour had come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. He shrieked once – once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done. But, for many minutes, the heart heat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me; it would not be heard through the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more.

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!

When I had made an end of these labors, it was four o'clock – still dark as midnight. As the bell sounded the hour, there came a knocking at the street door. I went down to open it with a light heart, – for what had I now to fear? There entered three men, who introduced themselves, with perfect suavity, as officers of the police. A shriek had been heard by a neighbour during the night; suspicion of foul play had been aroused; information had been lodged at the police office, and they (the officers) had been deputed to search the premises.

I smiled, – for what had I to fear? I bade the gentlemen welcome. The shriek, I said, was my own in a dream. The old man, I mentioned, was absent in the country. I took my visitors all over the house. I bade them search – search well. I led them, at length, to his chamber. I showed them his treasures, secure, undisturbed. In the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room, and desired them here to rest from their fatigues, while I myself, in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim.

The officers were satisfied. My manner had convinced them. I was singularly at ease. They sat, and while I answered cheerily, they chatted of familiar things. But, ere long, I felt myself getting pale and wished them gone. My head ached, and I fancied a ringing in my ears: but still they sat and still chatted. The ringing became more distinct: – It continued and became more distinct: I talked more freely to get rid of the feeling: but it continued and gained definiteness – until, at length, I found that the noise was not within my ears.

No doubt I now grew very pale; – but I talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased – and what could I do? It was a low, dull, quick sound – much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I gasped for breath – and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly – more vehemently; but the noise steadily so increased. I arose and argued about trifles, in a high key and with violent gesticulations; but the noise steadily increased. Why would they not be gone? I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observations of the men – but the noise steadily increased. Oh God! What could I do? 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!

'Villains!' I shrieked, 'dissemble no more! I admit the deed! – Tear up the planks! Here, here! – It is the beating of his hideous heart!'

The End

 

† General understanding:

 

1. How did the narrator kill the old man? How did he dispose of the body?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Why did the police officers come to the house?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What sound did the narrator hear as he spoke to the police? How did he try to block out the sound?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Did the narrator believe the police officers could hear the sound as well? Why, in his opinion, did they not react to the sound?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

† Literary analysis:

1. Underline words or phrases in the text which suggest the narrator's lack of remorse for what he has done.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. How would you define the narrator's response to the crime he has committed?

Pride  Pleasure Confusion

Fear Indifference Other:.........................................

3. What tone does the narrator use when describing the murder and the concealment of body?

Matter of fact Clinical Passionate

Apologetic Remorseful Other:...................................

4. Is the narrator's primary concern:

to justify his actions and win the sympathy of the reader?

to explain to the reader that he proceeded in a logical manner and therefore should not be considered a madman?

5. Tension is created in the story through several techniques: repetition, syntax and a crescendo effect.

a. Underline examples of repetition.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

b. Are the sentences in the text primarily:

long and flowing?

short and arhythmic?

c. Consider how tension is built up through a crescendo effect. Focus on paragraph 7 and fill in the table below.

the narrator's behaviour	the disturbing sound
Italked more fluently, and with a heightened voice!	Yet the sound increased – and what could I do?

· I talked more quickly – more vehemently

· I arose and argued about trifles, in a high key and with violent gesticulations

· I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury

· I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards

d. Which sentence structures are used in the final part of the story to increase tension?

6. Which of the following best describes Poe's main interest in writing The Tell-Tale Heart?

 The in-depth analysts of the thwarted relationship between the old man and the narrator.

 The haunting and disturbing description of an eerie setting.

 The detailed account of what was almost the perfect murder.

 The exposure of the workings of an unstable mind.

By his own definition, Poe's style is based on the choice of the curt, the condensed, the pointed, a style in which every single word counts towards creating that certain unique or single effect around which the tale revolves. In The Tell-Tate Heart, does he dedicate his attention to traditional elements of storytelling, i.e. setting, physical descriptions, characterization? Does he succeed in eliminating all that is superfluous to his main objective in writing this story?

7. The term Gothic is often used to refer to Poe's work. The principal aim of Gothic fiction is to evoke chilling terror by exploiting mystery, cruelty and nightmarish horrors. Can you identify any Gothic elements in The Tell-Tale Heart?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. In a first-person narrative the reader sees events unfold through the eyes of a single character who refers to himself as 'I'. The reader's vision of the story, or point of view, is limited to what the first-person narrator himself knows, experiences, infers or can find out by talking to other characters. The reader cannot see events as they actually arc, but only as they appear to be to the mediating consciousness of the narrator. An author may choose the first-person narrative for very different artistic purposes:

· first-person narration may lend authenticity to a fictional work, creating the illusion that the narrator is relating events that he has personally witnessed or experienced. The narrator may be presented as likable, perceptive, intelligent and reliable, and therefore the reader may be encouraged to accept what he relates and sympathise with his views;

· the reader may be encouraged to question the reliability of the narrator. This occurs when the narrator's vision of the world or interpretation of events is clearly different from the reader's. The unreliable narrator may be used to add humor or a satirical edge to a text, or the psychological make up of the narrator himself may be the focus of the writer's attention.