“The Raven”
Concept Questions

Onomatopoeia

  1. What does Poe’s use of onomatopoeia add to the story? Specifically, does it add to the mood, setting, tone etc?
  2. Choose 2 of your pieces of evidence; explain Poe’s purpose for using this type of sound device. What was his goal? Does he achieve it, why or why not?
  3. How would you categorize the types of “sounds” used in the poem – why these types of sounds? What do they add to the overall mood or tone?

“The Raven”
Concept Questions

Alliteration

  1. At times, Poe’s use of alliteration seems excessive, such as in line 71, in which the hardgis repeated four times, almost resulting in a tongue twister: “this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore.” What is your opinion of Poe’s use of alliteration? Is it successful in creating striking sound effects, or is it simply distracting? Explain your answer.
  2. Having heard the poem, does the alliteration add to the overall tone and mood of the poem? If yes, how – BE SPECIFIC, if not, why not? BE SPECIFIC.
  3. Does the alliteration increase, decrease or stay about the same as the poem goes on – what could be the purpose of this?

“The Raven”
Concept Questions

Repetition

  1. How does repetition of the wordnevermoretransformthe word’s meaning and effect?
  2. Choose a different word or phrase that is repeated numerous times in the poem – what is Poe’s purpose for the repetition? Does he achieve his purpose? Why or why not?
  3. Why does the narrator become increasingly repetitive? What types of things does he repeat? What does this say about the narrator? What does it add to the poem’s overall feel?

“The Raven”
Concept Questions

Diction of Imagery

  1. What is the poem’ssetting,or time and place?
  2. How does the setting add to the overall mood of the poem? Be specific and be sure to identify a mood.
  3. Identify 2 specific references to the setting and explain how they impact the reader’s emotions, understanding or experience of the poem.

“The Raven”
Concept Questions

Mood

  1. How would you describe themood,or feeling, created by the poem’s setting? Which images areintegralto the mood?
  2. How would you characterize the mood of the narrator? Does it stay the same or does it shift as the poem goes on? Explain any possible shifts in the narrator’s mood.
  3. Besides setting, identify two other diction examples that help to create the mood. Explain the connection.

“The Raven”
Concept Questions

Narrator’s Tone towards Raven

  1. What is the narrator’s tone towards Lenore? How do you know? Does his tone shift at all during the poem? If so, how? If not, why not?
  2. The speaker’stone,or attitude toward his visitor, changes as the raven graduallytransformsfrom a slightly comic figure into a demonic one. Trace these changes in tone. Is there evidence suggesting that the speaker is going mad? Explain.
  3. If the speaker knows the bird only knows how to say “nevermore,” why does he keep asking it questions? What impact does this have on the speaker? The reader?