Guided Notes for The Tell-Tale Heart

1. Tell Tale Heart Guided Notes
What does the title mean?
Who is telling the story?
Prediction: What story do you think
will
Be told?
Inference (Explain):
What are the narrator’s thoughts and
feelings?
WHAT IS THE NARRATOR
TRYING TO CONVINCE THE
READER OF?
What does the narrator want the
reader to know about his state of
mind? How does he explain it?
(*Give details from text to support
response)
Details(evidence) to support your
response

2. Tell Tale Heart Guided Notes
Identify: How does the narrator feel
about the old man?
What are the feelings that are
associated with the eye? Explain the
symbolism of the “vulture eye”
Is the narrator trustworthy? Based
on his obsession with the old man’s
eye, do you trust the reliability of
the narrator? (Think about his state
of mind) Give evidence from text to
support your response
Inference (Explain):
• What does the narrator want
us to know about his
psychological state?
• How does this passage help
build suspense in the story?
• What is the heart beat
compared to and why is that
symbolic (*make annotations
in your text)?
Inference (Explain):

3. Tell Tale Heart Guided Notes
What sound do you think the
narrator is hearing? Where is it
coming from?
What do you think will happen next?
Inference (Explain):
• Why does the narrator
believe the officers are
mocking him? Why does the
narrator confess to the
crime at the end of the
story?
•
How does the narrator act in
front of the police? What
does that behavior show us
about the narrator’s sanity?
Why do you think the
narrator confesses to a
crime that may have never
been discovered?
Inference (Explain):

4. Tell Tale Heart Guided Notes
• Summarize the murder and
concealment of body? What
does the narrator want us to
know? (Use textual evidence
to support response)
*Evidence from text to support
your response

5. Tell Tale Heart Guided Notes
• Why doesn’t the narrator
murder the old man the first
seven nights? What does this
show about his state of
mind?
• What are the feelings
associated with the old man’s
heart? What do you think the
heart symbolizes?
Inference (Explain):

6. Tell Tale Heart Guided Notes
• Since Poe uses dramatic
dialogue to tell the story we
only have the
narrator’s(murderer) point
of view, what can you infer
about the narrator’s
purpose? His state of mind?
• Is the narrator reliable? Why
or why not? Use textual
evidence to support your
response and explain your
answer
Inference (Explain):
How does the the monologue help
you understand Mood & Tone of
story?
Examples from video

7. Tell Tale Heart Guided Notes
HOW DOES THE FILM BUILD
SUSPENSE?
GIVE THREE EXAMPLES FROM
FILM
3 Examples form film