Transcript HOME LEARNING The Bloody Chamber

HOME LEARNING
The Bloody Chamber
List four things the speaker feels about getting married.
I remember how, that night, I lay awake in the wagon-lit in a tender, delicious ecstasy of excitement, my
burning cheek pressed against the impeccable linen of the pillow and the pounding of my heart mimicking that
of the great pistons ceaselessly thrusting the train that bore me through the night, away from Paris, away from
girlhood, away from the white, enclosed quietude of my mother's apartment, into the unguessable country of
marriage.
And I remember I tenderly imagined how, at this very moment, my mother would be moving slowly about
the narrow bedroom I had left behind for ever, folding up and putting away all my little relics, the tumbled
garments I would not need any more, the scores for which there had been no room in my trunks, the concert
programmes I'd abandoned; she would linger over this torn ribbon and that faded photograph with all the halfjoyous, half-sorrowful emotions of a woman on her daughter's wedding day. And, in the midst of my bridal
triumph, I felt a pang of loss as if, when he put the gold band on my finger, I had, in some way, ceased to be her
child in becoming his wife.
Edgar Allen Poe
•What is Poe known as?
•What did Poe do after the death of his parents?
•Who did Poe marry?
•What happened to his wife?
•In addition to being a writer, what else was Poe?
•What was one of the notable features of Poe’s stories?
•What granted Poe his breakthrough?
•How was Poe discovered before his death?
•What was Poe’s cause of death?
•What type of literature was heavily influenced by Poe’s works?
The Tell-Tale Heart
1. What does the story’s title mean?
2. What does the narrator do with the dead
man’s body?
3. Why does the narrator want to kill the old
man?
4. What finally causes him to commit the act?
5. The narrator claims that he is not mad. What
evidence is there that he is?
6. The two main symbols in the story are the eye
and the heart. What might these symbolise?
7. Provide techniques Poe uses to create
suspense in the story.
Question 1
Look at lines 1-14
What do you learn about the old man? List four points.
TRUE! --nervous --very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you
say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses --not destroyed --not dulled
them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in
the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how
healthily --how calmly I can tell you the whole story.
It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it
haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the
old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no
desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye,
with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees --very
gradually --I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the
eye forever.
Question 1
Look at the extract from page 5.
How does the narrator describe the death of the old man?
And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house,
so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror. Yet, for some minutes longer I
refrained and stood still. But the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst.
And now a new anxiety seized me --the sound would be heard by a neighbour! The old
man's hour had come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room.
He shrieked once --once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy
bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done. But, for many minutes, the
heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me; it would not be heard
through the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and
examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the heart and
held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eye would
trouble me no more.
Page 5
How does Poe use
language to describe
the murder scene?
But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed. I held the lantern motionless. I tried how
steadily I could maintain the ray upon the eve. Meantime the hellish tattoo of the heart increased. It
grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant. The old man's terror must have been
extreme! It grew louder, I say, louder every moment! --do you mark me well I have told you that I am
nervous: so I am. And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so
strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror. Yet, for some minutes longer I refrained and
stood still. But the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst. And now a new anxiety
seized me --the sound would be heard by a neighbour! The old man's hour had come! With a loud yell, I
threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. He shrieked once --once only. In an instant I dragged
him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done. But,
for many minutes, the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me; it would not be
heard through the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was dead.
Evidence
Technique
Effect
But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed. I held the lantern
motionless. I tried how steadily I could maintain the ray upon the eve. Meantime
First-hand
account
the hellish tattoo of the heart increased. It grew quicker and quicker, and louder
Repetition
and louder every instant. The old man's terror must have been extreme! It grew
louder, I say, louder every moment! --do you mark me well I have told you that I
am nervous: so I am. And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful
silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable
terror. Yet, for some minutes longer I refrained and stood still. But the beating
Negative
lexis
grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst. And now a new anxiety
seized me --the sound would be heard by a neighbour! The old man's hour had
come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. He
Auditory
Imagery
Exclamatives
shrieked once --once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled
the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done. But, for
many minutes, the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex
me; it would not be heard through the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was
dead.
Short, simple sentences
How does the writer use language to describe the murder
scene?
Firstly, Poe uses repetition to emphasise the beating of the heart which is
what leads the narrator to commit murder. It states that ‘the beating grew
louder, louder,’ and ‘louder’ is repeated six times throughout the
paragraph emphasising the sound. This auditory imagery is successful in
replicating the sound of the heart, particularly as the two syllables: ‘louder’ could mimic beating. Furthermore, the repetition of ‘quicker’ reflects
the old man’s rising fear and ‘terror’ as he realises what the narrator is
about to do. This repetition emphasises how distressed the old man is and
yet the repetition of ‘louder’ is arguably hyperbolic, leading readers to
understand why the narrator has decided to kill him.
Peer Assessment
Question 2: Language Analysis
Level
Skills Descriptor
4
 Analyses the effects of the writer’s choices of
language
Perceptive,
 Selects a judicious range of quotations
detailed
 Uses sophisticated subject terminology
accurately
7-8 marks
3
Clear,
relevant
5-6 marks
 Clearly explains the effects of the writer’s
choices of language
 Selects a range of relevant quotations
 Uses subject terminology accurately
Page 6
How does Poe use language
to describe the
concealment of the body?
If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise
precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily,
but in silence. First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the
legs.
I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all
between the scantlings. I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human
eye --not even his --could have detected any thing wrong. There was nothing to wash out -no stain of any kind --no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary for that. A tub had caught
all --ha! ha!
When I had made an end of these labors, it was four o'clock –still dark as midnight. As
the bell sounded the hour, there came a knocking at the street door. I went down to open it
with a light heart, --for what had I now to fear? There entered three men, who introduced
themselves, with perfect suavity, as officers of the police. A shriek had been heard by a
neighbour during the night; suspicion of foul play had been aroused; information had been
lodged at the police office, and they (the officers) had been deputed to search the premises.
Page 6
How does Poe use language
to describe the
concealment of the body?
If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise
precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily,
but in silence. First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the
legs.
I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all
between the scantlings. I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human
eye -- not even his -- could have detected any thing wrong. There was nothing to wash out -no stain of any kind -- no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary for that. A tub had
caught all -- ha! ha!
When I had made an end of these labors, it was four o'clock – still dark as midnight. As
the bell sounded the hour, there came a knocking at the street door. I went down to open it
with a light heart, -- for what had I now to fear? There entered three men, who introduced
themselves, with perfect suavity, as officers of the police. A shriek had been heard by a
neighbour during the night; suspicion of foul play had been aroused; information had been
lodged at the police office, and they (the officers) had been deputed to search the premises.
Peer Assessment
Question 2: Language Analysis
Level
Skills Descriptor
4
 Analyses the effects of the writer’s choices of
language
Perceptive,
 Selects a judicious range of quotations
detailed
 Uses sophisticated subject terminology
accurately
7-8 marks
3
Clear,
relevant
5-6 marks
 Clearly explains the effects of the writer’s
choices of language
 Selects a range of relevant quotations
 Uses subject terminology accurately
Heart of Darkness
How does the writer use language to describe the river Congo?
Annotate the extract and respond to the question in a PEELA paragraph.