TELL TALE HEARTBy Edgar Allan Poe

DEEPENING: DISCUSSION

•At the beginning of the story, how can you describe the narrator in detail? What is your impression of him?

DEEPENING: DISCUSSION

•What do you think is the relationship between the narrator and the old man? Are they friends or enemies?

DEEPENING: DISCUSSION

•What specifically is it about the old man that troubles the narrator? Why does it trouble him?

DEEPENING: DISCUSSION

•What does the narrator do every night? Why?

DEEPENING: DISCUSSION

•How does the narrator feel after he commits the murder? Is he worried about being caught?

DEEPENING: DISCUSSION

•Why does the killer confess?

DEEPENING: DISCUSSION

•The narrator seems unaware of the reason behind his killing, how can you describe his state of mind?

DEEPENING: DISCUSSION

•Do you believe in the words and statements of the narrator?

DEEPENING: DISCUSSION

•What does the narrator’s mind reveal about human beings in general?

DEEPENING: DISCUSSION

•How can you describe the main conflict in the story? Is it an external or internal conflict?

DEEPENING: DISCUSSION

•What other behaviors in real life can be associated with the narrator’s obsession?

DEEPENING: DISCUSSION

•What does the narrator’s condition reveal about the nature of man’s wrong doings to each other?

DEEPENING: DISCUSSION

•How does the story play on the concept of Freud’s structural model of behavior (id, ego and superego)?

DEEPENING: DISCUSSION

•What does the short story reveal about the author?

DEEPENING: DISCUSSION