Tell-tale heart study guide

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. . . . How does the author create suspense in this excerpt?

By identifying the source of the narrator's irrational fear

How does the author create suspense in paragraph 4?

By showing the narrator's repetitive actions

How does the narrator's mention of his sharpened sense of hearing in paragraph 1 foreshadow the old man's death?

It foreshadows the point when the old man's heartbeat drives the narrator to kill him.

Which two quotes from paragraph 4 best support the answer to Part A?

and every night, about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and opened it—oh, so gently! So you see he would have been a very profound old man, indeed, to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked in upon him while he slept.

In paragraphs 14-15, the narrator's tone in describing his cleanup and first encounter with the police is one of —

confident

profound \prə-found´\ adj 1. showing great insight or understanding 2. deeply felt or held; intense 3. far-reaching 4. situated at a great depth Which definition best fits how the word profound is used in paragraph 4?

definition 1

Poe's extensive use of dashes in the last two paragraphs is effective because it —

highlights the narrator's increased nervousness

What literary device do these two examples from the story utilize? The narrator's attempts to hide the murder actually result in him giving himself up to the police. The more the narrator insists that he is not mad, the more readers can detect evidence of his madness.

irony

acute \ə-kyoot´\ adj 1. sharp or severe 2. keenly perceptive 3. less than ninety degrees 4. high in pitch Which definition best fits how the word acute is used in paragraph 1 of the story?

keenly perceptive

After murdering the old man, the narrator becomes convinced that he can still hear the man's heartbeat. What does this beating heart symbolize, or represent? Cite evidence from the text to support your response.

paranoid; "It grew louder — louder — louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! — no, no! They heard! — they suspected! — they knew! — they were making a mockery of my horror! — this I thought, and this I think"

The use of a first-person narrator in the story —

shows the emotions he was feeling/unstable; understand thoughts

In paragraph 4, the narrator describes going to the old man's room every night around midnight. Why is he unable to commit the murder for the first seven nights?

the old mans eyes weren't open