“Pit and Pendulum” by Poe NAME ______

______1.The story is told from which point of view?

A Third-person-limited view of a member of the French army

B Omniscient view of the author

C Third-person view of the inquisitor

D First-person view of the prisoner

______2.You can infer that the narrator is frightened about being in the dark because —

F he has always been afraid of the dark

G he knows exactly what torture awaits him

H the unseen is more terrifying than the seen

J he can hear the bats and rats but not see them

______3.The narrator is afraid that he will find himself in a tomb because he —

A fears that he will be taken from the tomb and tortured

B fears that he has been buried alive

C has always been afraid of tombs

D suspects the tomb will plunge into a bottomless pit

______4.When the narrator is sentenced to die, the authorities provide him with food

because they —

A feel very sorry for him

B left the food there by mistake

C plan more punishments before he dies

D always feed their prisoners until the end

______5.The prisoner frees himself when he —

F waits until the pendulum cuts the bonds and quickly rolls out of the way

G screams and screams until they release him

H pays a great deal of money and is released

J smears meat on the bonds that hold him, and the rats chew through them

______6.At the end of the story, the —

A narrator plunges to his death in the pit

B narrator is saved from the pit by a French general

C inquisitors release him because he is really innocent

D prison burns, and in the turmoil the prisoner is able to escape

Answer the following questions AND support your answer using a QUOTE from the text. Make sure you cite it with (Poe page number) (Poe 182).

7-9. Using a tree map, explainthree different conflicts. Make sure you label each as man vs. man, society, nature, supernatural, self, technology and explain the conflict! In other words, writing Finny vs Gene is NOT an explanation. (4 points each)

Conflicts

Man vs. Man vs. Man vs.

10.Why does a deep sleep overcome the narrator?

11. The narrator suddenly becomes aware of a swinging pendulum descending very slowly from the ceiling. What is this a symbol of? What QUOTES from the story support your view?

12. On pages 213-214, the narrator’s cell begins to change. How is the cell changing?

13. How is this a new form of torture?

14. On page 214, you can find the term below.

ap·er·ture

[ap-er-cher]Show IPA

noun

1.

anopening,asahole,slit,crack,gap,etc.

2.

Alsocalledaperturestop.Optics.anopening,usuallycircular,thatlimitsthequantityoflightthatcanenteranopticalinstrument.

From1400-50;lateMiddleEnglishLatinapertūraanopening,equivalenttoapert(us)

opened(pastparticipleofaperīre;aper(i)-(seeaperient) +-tuspastparticiplesuffix)+-ūra-ure

Circle from which country the word first originated.

Put a box around the part(s) of speech it is.

15. How does the Latin quote on the first page of the storyaffect the mood of the story?

16. R-A-F-T writing for “The Pit and the Pendulum”

Role / Audience / Format / Topic / Purpose/outcome
Narrator himself / Spanish tribunal court system / Personal testimony / I have suffered enough and should be released now! / convince or persuade to get me out of this torture chamber!l
The “black-robed judges” / Spanish tribunal court system / Inquisition into prisoner’s case and verdict / He is still guilty of the crime. / convince or persuade to carry out the previous sentence
Narrator himself / Spanish tribunal court system / Eye-witness testimony / The “black-robed judges” should be tortured and killed. / convince or persuade to execute the judges as they have sentenced so many others

17. Look at the internet site below. Evaluate why or why not this would be a reliable site for research. Give at least two reasons.