1. The Tell-Tale Heart
Edgar Allan Poe

2. Plot Draw a simple timeline of events, as the narrator describes them.
Highlight the points of the story that may NOT be true.
Give evidence to support your conclusion.

3. Character
Along the bottom of the same timeline, draw a line graph that represents the narrator’s “nerves”.
As the narrator’s nervousness/stress increases throughout the plot, your line graph will reflect this change (note: this is not an objective graph, but you will be asked to supply evidence from the text).

4. Language Features
On a copy of your text, find, highlight, and label at least one of each of the following:
Repetition
Hyperbole
Archaic language
Emotive language
Parallelism
Sentence structure – simple and complex
Metaphor
Simile

5. Language Features, cont.
Select THREE language features and explain how they:
Work together to build tension
Create a picture in the reader’s mind
Gives the reader more information about the narrator

6. Speaking
The narrator has been put on trial in a court of law. You are the top legal mind in the country.
The Defence claims that the narrator is Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI).
The Prosecution claims that the narrator was of sound mind when he committed the act.
What evidence will you use to support your case?