1. The Tell-Tale Heart By: Edgar Allan Poe

2. Edgar Allan Poe 1809-1849 Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston to
parents who made their livings as traveling
actors. When Poe was two, his father
deserted the family. Less than a year later,
his mother died. Edgar was raised in Virginia
by family friends, the Allans. After being
expelled from both the University of Virginia
and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point,
Poe began writing for a living.

3. Madness or Melancholy?
Poe got a job as a journalist to support himself and his young wife while he worked on the stories and poems that would earn him the title “father of the modern mystery.” A master of suspense, he wrote works that were often dark and full of horrifying images. Poems such as “The Raven” and short stories such as “The Pit and the Pendulum” brought him fame but no fortune. Poverty intensified his despair when his wife, Virginia, fell ill and died. Deeply depressed, Poe died two years later after being found on the streets of Baltimore. Poe’s obituary stated he was a man of astonishing skill, a dreamer who walked “in madness or melancholy.”

4. Evaluating a Narrator
Have you ever suspected someone was not telling you the truth?
Just as you can’t trust every person you meet, you can’t believe all narrators, or characters who tell a story.
To evaluate a narrator’s reliability, or trustworthiness, pay attention to his or her actions, attitudes, and statements. Do any raise your suspicions?

5. Suspense in a Story
Poe’s stories are often suspenseful, which creates a curious and often ominous mood.
Poe uses the following techniques to create suspense: - describing a character’s anxiety or fear - relating vivid descriptions of dramatic sights and sounds - repeating words, phrases, or character’s actions

6. Acute Definition: sharp; keen
Sentence: The hound’s acute sense of smell made him a master hunter.

7. Audacity Definition: shameless, daring, or boldness
Sentence: Bob could not believe that his friend had the audacity to flirt with his girlfriend in front of him!

8. Conceive Definition: to think of
Sentence: While thinking of how to take over the world, he conceived of an evil plan.

9. crevice Definition: a crack
Sentence: The poor snake got himself stuck in a crevice in the sidewalk.

10. Derision Definition: ridicule
Sentence: The young lady was tired of the derision and ridicule from her classmates, and just wanted to share her feelings.

11. Hypocritical Definition: false; deceptive
Sentence: Gretchen was very hypocritical; she got angry when Regina wasn’t a good friend to her, even though she herself wasn’t a very good friend to others.

12. Stealthily Definition: cautiously; secretively
Sentence: Peter tried to walk down the stairs stealthily, but he tripped and fell and blew his cover.

13. stifled Definition: smothered
Sentence: The little girl stifled the urge to tell a secret by covering her mouth.

14. Vehemently Definition: with intense emotion
Sentence: The man vehemently disagreed with his wife, and got very animated when trying to prove his point.

15. Vex Definition: to disturb; to annoy
Sentence: The man was extremely vexed by the girl behind him because she kept kicking his seat.
Or The girl would not stop vexing the man in front of her by kicking his seat.