Poe+Story+Questions+for+Black+Cat

"The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe

Day 1:  Read "The Black Cat".

Follow this link for a standard version of the text.

If you are interested in a more interactive version of the story, follow this link__.__

After you have read the story, email your teacher to tell him or her how long it took to read and to ask any questions you may have about the reading.

Day 2: Copy and paste the following 10 questions into a google.doc and save it under your full name and the title “Black Cat Questions” (e.g. “Joe Sample_Black Cat Questions”). Share the google.doc with your teacher who will give you credit and/or feedback.

PLOT: 1) How does the author begin the story? In retrospect, how does this unique beginning prepare the reader for the story that unfolds? 2) Does the story end the way you expected? How? Why?

NARRATIVE MODE: 3) Identify and describe the story’s narrative point of view and narrative voice<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">CONFLICT: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4) What is the central conflict in "The Black Cat"? ( Here<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> is a list of the basic types of conflict.)

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">CHARACTER <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5) Describe the relationship between the two main characters in the story.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">6) How might Pluto be a doppelganger<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> for the Narrator?

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">7) How did you feel about the narrator as you read the story?

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SYMBOLS:

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">8) Consider the significance of the cat’s name in the context of Roman mythology. How might this help us understand his significance?

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">9) How does image of gallows reoccur throughout the story? How does it foreshadow the narrator’s fate?

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TONE: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">10) How would you describe the tone of the story? How does it shift throughout the story? Remember, one of the ways authors establish tone is through diction, or word choice. Here<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> is a link to a page with a great list of tone descriptors.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 21.3333px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Day 3: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Address one of the two topics below in a DESCRIPTIVE paragraph. Save it under your full name and the title “Black Cat Paragraph” (e.g. “Joe Sample_Black Cat Paragraph”). Share it with your teacher as a google.doc.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Topic 1: CONFLICT <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What is the central conflict<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> within “The Black Cat”? Explain how the narrator grapples with this conflict throughout the story. Use quotes to support.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Topic 2: TONE <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How does the tone change throughout “The Black Cat” to reflect the narrator’s emotional state? Describe the tone<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> at three different points in the story and use quotes to illustrate how Poe establishes it.