Edgar Allen Poe

Edgar Allen Poe

“The Fall of the House of Usher”

Due______

Single Effect – Poe believed that every character, incident, and detail in a story should contribute to a certain unique or single effect.

1.  Read the first paragraph on page 297. Analyze the author’s purpose for writing the passage. His purpose is:
A. to frighten the reader
B. to provide foreshadowing for the main character
C. to develop the single effect that develops throughout the story
D. to establish the setting

2.  In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Poe enhances his tale using the single effect of
A. gore
B. curiosity
C. gloominess
D. sadness

3.  Critique Roderick Usher’s state. It stems largely from
A. the stormy weather.
B. the darkness of the autumn season.
C. the fatal disease afflicting his twin sister.
D. the financial burden of maintaining his family mansion.

4.  Usher sings “The Haunted Palace” to the narrator. What can you synthesize from this event?
A. Usher wrote the song about his own house.
B. Usher believes his house is alive.
C. Usher thinks there are ghosts in his house.
D. Usher thinks Madeline is a ghost.

5. Read the sentence in the passage, “There was a long, tumultuous shouting

sound like the voice of a thousand waters – and the deep and dark tarn at my

feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the ‘House of Usher.’” What

does the word tarn mean as used in this passage?
A. a black substance
B. a lake
C. a quagmire

D. plant growing in wet place

Constructed Response

TYPED

TIMES NEW ROMAN

DOUBLE SPACED

12 POINT FONT

Poe develops his single effect by creating parallels between Roderick Usher and the house itself. Analyze the significance of the sentences in the passage. Use details from passage to support your analysis.

“Perhaps the eye of a scrutinizing observer might have discovered a barely perceptible fissure which extending from the roof of the building in front made its way down the wall in a zigzag direction.”

“I could but partially perceive his features, although I saw that his lips trembled as if he were murmuring inaudibly. His head had dropped upon his breast yet I knew that he was not asleep, from the wide and rigid opening of the eye as I caught a glance of it in profile. The motion of his body, too, was at variance with this idea – for he rocked from side to side with a gentle yet constant and uniform sway.”