The Cask of Amontillado

by Edgar Allan Poe

Beginning Directions

Follow these directions carefully. Part of your grade will be determined by how well you follow directions. For this story, you will be asked to complete a number of activities that help you study and review for your upcoming test. You will be using the story "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe.

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• Complete the activities on the Google Doc.
• Use COMPLETE SENTENCES throughout the assignment.
• Use PROPER GRAMMAR and CONVENTIONS.

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Pre-Reading Activities

Before you read

Pre-reading Activities

Directions

Pre-Reading Activities- Complete these activities before reading the story

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A. Identifying Irony

• Watch the three videos about irony and complete the notes on the Google Doc.

B. Author Study- Edgar Allan Poe

• Take two notes from each of the paragraphs from the biography of Edgar Allan Poe on the Google Doc.

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C. Activity 1- Literary Analysis: Plot, Foreshadowing, and Suspense

• Take notes from the slide. Use headings and subheads for all the activities listed for completion.
• Answer the questions on the Google Doc related to the notes and the story we will read. You will leave one section blank until after we read the story.

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D. Activity 2- Reading: Read Ahead to Make and Verify Predictions

• Take notes from the slide on the same Google Doc you started for Activity 1. Use headings and subheads appropriately for Activity 2.
• Using the chart given to you, make predictions in your Google Doc. Leave the "Outcome" section blank until after we have read the story.

Identifying Irony

DIRECTIONS: Watch each video and take two notes for each video.

Author Study

Edgar Allan Poe

Author Study: Poe

Author Study- Poe

Notes

• Edgar Allan Poe's early life was as strange and unhappy as some of his most famous fiction. When he was born in Boston in 1809, his parents were actors in traveling companies; his father died in 1810 and his mother in 1811. Edgar and his sister and brother were left penniless, and Edgar was taken in by a Virginia merchant, John Allan, whose last name Edgar took as his middle name. Poe lived with the Allans in England from 1815 to 1820 and attended school there. His relationship with Allan was strained, because Allan was rather heartless and unsympathetic to his wife and foster son. When Poe began studies at the University of Virginia, the wealthy Allan refused to help support him, and Poe turned to gambling, with little success.

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• After a short time at the University, Poe moved to Boston and began his career as a writer. In 1827 he published his first volume of poetry, Tamerlane and Other Poems, at his own expense, but found few readers. These early poems were heavily influenced by the Romantic poets. His first paid publication was the short story ‘‘MS. Found in a Bottle’’ (1833), which drew the attention of a publisher who admired his work and who got him an editorial job. He soon lost the job because of his drinking. Shortly afterwards, in 1836, he married his cousin Virginia Clemm, who was thirteen years old.

Notes from : "Author Biography." Short Stories for Students. Vol. 7. Gale Cengage, .eNotes.com. 29 Oct, 2012 <http://www.enotes.com/cask-amontillado/>

Author Study (continued)

• During the eleven years of his marriage to Virginia, Poe had a series of publishing successes and personal failures. He moved his family to New York and Philadelphia and back again, editing and contributing to magazines. He published several short horror stories and narrative poems, including "The Murders in the Rue Morgue'' (1841), one of the earliest detective stories ever written, the psychological horror story "The Tell-Tale Heart'' (1843), and the melancholy poem ‘‘The Raven’’ (1845), which brought him national fame. His brilliance as a writer was now firmly established. Still, he could not escape his addiction to alcohol.

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• In 1846, after losing a series of editorships, Poe retreated with his wife to a cottage in Fordham, outside New York City, where they nearly starved. There Poe wrote ‘‘The Cask of Amontillado,’’ its gloomy and cynical tone echoing Poe's own feelings. The Poe biographer William Bittner claims that the two characters in the story "are two sides of the same man Edgar Poe as he saw himself while drinking.’’ A few months later Virginia died of tuberculosis, and Poe became despondent. He wrote several important pieces during this time, but though he tried again to give up drinking, he never succeeded. He died in Baltimore on October 7, 1849, at the age of forty, after an alcoholic episode.

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Notes from : "Author Biography." Short Stories for Students. Vol. 7. Gale Cengage, .eNotes.com. 29 Oct, 2012 <http://www.enotes.com/cask-amontillado/>

Author Study (continued)

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1. Turn to a partner and compare notes. Note two things that your partner included and that you did not.

Activity 1

Literary Analysis Skill: Plot, Foreshadowing, and Suspense

Activity 1- Literary Analysis

NOTES:

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Plot: the sequence of events in a narrative.

Conflict: a problem

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Exposition: Introduction to characters and setting

Rising Action: the central conflict is introduced and continues to build.

Climax: the high point of intensity in the conflict

Falling Action: the conflict's intensity lessens

Resolution: the conflict concludes and loose ends are tied up

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Foreshadowing: the use of clues to hint at events that will happen later in the story. Authors use this technique to create suspense.

Suspense: the feeling of tension that keeps readers wondering what will happen next.

Activity 1 (continued)

First Paragraph Questions:

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Read the following passage, which is the opening paragraph of "The Cask of Amontillado."

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely settled--but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish but punish with impunity.

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Directions: Answer these questions in the proper section on your Doc.

1. In the opening paragraph, what details does Poe include that suggest something about the narrator's personality and his plans?

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2.The paragraph arouses curiosity: What does the narrator plan to do, and how can he possibly get away without being punished?

Activity 1 (continued)

Questions on Suspense and Foreshadowing:

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A. Directions: Read the following passage, and watch for details the author uses to create suspense. Copy the words and phrases in the passage to your Google Doc, in the correct section, that make you curious about the outcome of this story.

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The wine sparkled in his eyes and the bells jingled. My own fancy grew warm with the Medoc. We had passed through long walls of piled skeletons, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recess of the catacombs. I paused again, and this time I made bold to seize Fortunato by an arm above the elbow.

"The niter!" I said; "see, it increases. It hangs like moss upon the vaults. We are below the river's bed. The drops of moisture trickle among the bones. Come, we will go back ere it is too late. Your cough--"

"It is nothing," he said; "let us go on. But first, another draft of Medoc."

Activity 1 (continued)

Questions on Suspense and Foreshadowing:

B. Directions: Identify two clues the author gives (in the paragraph below) that foreshadows the story's ending. Did you expect the story's ending? Describe your response, and tell why you reacted that way.

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The wine sparkled in his eyes and the bells jingled. My own fancy grew warm with the Medoc. We had passed through long walls of piled skeletons, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recess of the catacombs. I paused again, and this time I made bold to seize Fortunato by an arm above the elbow.

"The niter!" I said; "see, it increases. It hangs like moss upon the vaults. We are below the river's bed. The drops of moisture trickle among the bones. Come, we will go back ere it is too late. Your cough--"

"It is nothing," he said; "let us go on. But first, another draft of Medoc."

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Clue 1: __________

Clue 2: __________

My response to the story's ending (to be completed after you read):

_______________________________________________________

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Activity 2

Reading Skill: Making and Verifying Predictions

Activity 2- Reading Skill

Notes:

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Prediction: an informal guess about what will happen later in the narrative.

Making and verifying predictions: Keeps you actively involved in the story you are reading.

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You do not need to take notes on the following... just read them...

• Notice details that may foreshadow future events. Make predictions based on those details, and then read on to verify your predictions. If a prediction turns out to be wrong, evaluate your reasoning to determine whether you misread details or whether the author purposely created false expectations in order to surprise you later in the story.

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• Use a chart like the one shown in the Google Doc example at the beginning of this assignment (in the Activity 2 section) to record your predictions and evaluate their accuracy. Analyze any inaccurate predictions to determine why they were incorrect.

Activity 2 (continued)

The key to making accurate predictions is paying close attention to the story's details as you read. In "The Cask of Amontillado," the author provides many colorful details that serve as hints about what will happen.

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Poe's original: I took from their sconces two flambeaux, and giving one to Fortunato, bowed him through several suites of rooms to the archway that led into the vaults. I passed down a long and winding staircase, requesting him to be cautious as he followed. We came at length to the foot of the descent, and stood together upon the damp ground of the catacombs of the Montresors.

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Prediction: The narrator is going to do something terrible to Fortunato in the catacombs.

Activity 2 (continued)

Directions: You have this table in your Google Doc. In the second column, write your prediction based on the details in the first column. Then, we will read to story to discover the outcomes. You will then record the outcomes. How closely did your predictions match the outcomes?

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Reading the story

Using the textbook

Read the Story

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Read "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe in your online textbook.

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Log-in and click on the "Explore" button, then click on "Fiction and Nonfiction" to find "The Cask of Amontillado."

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Here is a quick link to your textbook log-in:

TEXTBOOK LINK

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Activities 1 & 2

Revisited

Activities 1 & 2 Revisited

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Directions:

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1. Go back to Activity 1 and complete the My response to the story's ending on your Google Doc for Section B. You may need to re-read the directions to help you fill in the answer.

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2. Go back to Activity 2 and complete the Outcome box for each prediction you made to see if you were correct in any of your predictions. If you weren't then try to figure out what made you think something else would happen.

After You Read

Use the textbook

Post-reading Activities

Directions

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Post-Reading Activities- Complete these activities after reading the story

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Activity 3- Grammar Skill: Concrete & Abstract Nouns

• Take notes from the slide on "The Cask of Amontillado" Google Doc. Use headings and subheads for all the activities listed for completion.
• Answer the questions on the Google Doc related to the notes and the story we read.

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Activity 4- Open-Book Assessment: Short Answer Questions

• Using the story available in the class textbook, online, answer the short answer questions on "The Cask of Amontillado" Google Doc

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Activity 3

Grammar Skill: Concrete and Abstract Nouns

Activity 3-

Grammar Skill

Notes:

• Noun: a word that names a person, place, or thing. Nouns name things that can be seen and touched as well as those that cannot be seen and touched
• Concrete Noun: refers to items that can be known by the senses--things we can see, hear, taste, smell, or touch
• Abstract Noun: refers to ideas, qualities, states of being, and feelings--things that can be known only through the mind.

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Activity 3 (continued)

A. Directions: In the following sentences find the concrete nouns and the abstract nouns and place them in a chart, like the one below, on your Google Doc.

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1. The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne... but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. (1 concrete noun; 3 abstract nouns)

2. Jason could see two long passages coming toward him, meeting at an acute angle where he stood. (2 concrete nouns; 1 abstract noun)

3. It must be understood that neither word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. (1 concrete noun; 4 abstract nouns)

4. We must remedy the matter, Bernice. We must not begrudge our new-found happiness to others. (1 concrete noun; 2 abstract nouns)

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Activity 3 (continued)

B. Directions:

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1. Write a paragraph, on your Google Doc, in which you describe a person whom you know well.

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2. Use at least three concrete nouns and three abstract nouns in your paragraph.

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3. Underline the concrete nouns.

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4. Bold the abstract nouns.

Activity 4

Open-Book Assessment

Activity 4-

Open-Book Assessment

Directions: Respond to the questions below. Make sure that all answers are grammatically correct with punctuation and capitalization. Use COMPLETE SENTENCES because this will help determine the nature of the question. Include EVIDENCE from the story!

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1. In "The Cask of Amontillado," what is Montresor's attitude toward revenge? Use a quotation from the story to support your answer.

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2. Early, in "The Cask of Amontillado," Poe has Montresor repeat the line "I have my doubts" to Fortunato. In your opinion, why does he do this?

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3. The word explicit means "clearly stated." (a) In "The Cask of Amontillado," does Montresor make his plans explicit to Fortunato as they descend into the vaults? (b) Explain why, using the word explicit in your answer.

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4. (a) Once Montresor and Fortunato set out for Montresor's palazzo in "The Cask of Amontillado," what did you predict the outcome of the story would be? (b) On what clues or details did you base this prediction?

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5. Review the section of "The Cask of Amontillado" in which Montresor leads Fortunato through the crypts. (a) Name the mood Poe creates in this scene, and (b) list five sounds or objects that help convey this mood.

Activity 4 (continued)

6. In "The Cask of Amontillado," Montresor and Fortunato have a conversation about "the brotherhood." In it, Montresor produces an object. Reread this conversation. Then, explain how the object foreshadows another even in the story.

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7. Reread the paragraph near the end of "The Cask of Amontillado" in which Fortunato begins screaming and Montresor answers those screams. (a) What does Montresor's behavior in this paragraph tell you about his state of mind? (b) Did his behavior cause you to revise your earlier prediction about the story's outcome? (c) Why or why not?

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8. (a) Briefly describe the climax of "The Cask of Amontillado." (b) Then, come up with four events that are part of the story's rising action.

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9. Review the climax of and falling action of "The Cask of Amontillado," and then return to the first line of the story. (a) According to Montresor, what was Fortunato's initial crime? (b) In your view, does the punishment fit the crime? (c) Why or why not? (d) What does this say about Montresor?

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10. Consider the last two lines of "The Cask of Amontillado." (a) Based on what you know from the story, will Montresor be caught and punished for his crime? (b) Why or why not?