The Man Who Was Poe
Study Guide Part I
Directions: Answer the following questions. Although you are not required to answer in
complete sentences, you must answer each question thoroughly. Additionally, provide page
number(s) from where you find your answers.
Prologue-pages 3-9
1. According to Edmund, where is Aunty?
With Mum making a home for them.
2. Where are Edmund and Sis from?
England
3. Why does Sis want Edmund to leave the tenement?
To get food
4. What does the man in the saloon give Edmund for his money?
Half a loaf of bread
5. What does the older man on the street ask Edmund to do for him?
Guide him to Shamrock Street
6. What happens when Edmund returned to the tenement?
Sis was gone
Chapter 1-pages 13-20
1. What does the homeless man do to earn money?
Write
2. What does the man have that needs to be delivered?
A letter
3. How does Edmund meet this man?
He runs into him
4. What does the man tell Edmund he must do first?
Deliver his letter
5. What does the man wonder about Edmund’s situation?
If it could become a story
6. Who is Mr. Dupin?
Edgar Allen Poe
Chapter 2-pages 21-27
1. What do Edmund and Sis do for fun?
Go to the docks
2. Where does Mr. Dupin insist they go to look for Sis?
To the docks
3. What does Edmund decide about Sis and Aunty?
They are at home
4. What does Mr. Dupin find on the dock?
A dead woman
5. What does Mr. Dupin notice about the woman?
She looks like Edmund
6. Why does he call Edmund over to the body?
To indentify it
7. What is Edmund concerned about?
Leave his Aunty
Chapter 3-pages 28-36
1. Why does Mr. Dupin get upset about the name “Sis”?
It is his dead wife’s name
2. Where does Mr. Dupin send Edmund?
To the saloon
3. What does Mr. Dupin begin to do after Edmund leaves?
Starts to record the story
4. Who does Edmund think is following him?
Aunty’s shadow
5. Who is actually following Edmund?
Fortnoy
6. In what year does this story take place?
1848
7. What does Edmund do with the pie?
He ate half of it
8. What was slid under the door to the tenement?
A piece of paper
Chapter 4-pages 37-44
1. What does the note say?
“Meddle at your peril”
2. Why did Edmund, Aunty, and Sis come to America?
To look for Mum
3. When did their mother leave?
A year ago
4. Why did Aunty think Mum was in America?
She received a message
5. Why do they have two keys to the room?
So they can leave to use the restroom
6. Where do they think Sis might have gone?
Into the next building
Chapter 5-pages 45-52
1. What does Edmund find on the floor?
A button from Sis’s shoe
2. How does Mr. Dupin think Sis ended up in the building next door?
She was forced
3. What does Mr. Dupin find out about the man renting the room next door?
He is never there, and he specifically wanted that room
4. What explanation does Mr. Dupin give for Sis’s disappearance?
Someone waited until Edmund left the room, and someone else detained him on the street
5. What does Edmund think they should do about Aunty and Sis?
Inform the authorities
6. Where does Mr. Dupin send Edmund?
To get a coat
7. What is happening as Edmund leaves the café?
Throck was approaching Dupin
Chapter 6-pages 53-60
1. Why does Mr. Dupin think Throck is no longer in the Army?
Kicked out due to violence
2. What does Mr. Dupin realize about his situation and Edmund’s situation? Why?
They are much the same. They were both abandoned, lost their father, dead mother, someone
called Sis
3. How must Edmund’s life end if it is to be like Mr. Dupin’s?
The death of Sis
4. What is the man on the store platform talking about?
The bank robbery
5. What does the clothier do to Edmund?
Tells him to leave
6. How does Mr. Dupin respond to Edmund?
He acts like he doesn’t know him
7. What does Mr. Dupin tell Edmund to do for him?
Deliver another note to Mrs. Whitman
Chapter 7-pages 61-68
1. Why doesn’t the servant girl want to let Edmund into the house?
He is dirty
2. While in court, what does Mr. Dupin learn about the woman’s death?
It was murder
3. Why can’t he remain awake in court?
He is drunk
4. What visions does Mr. Dupin have while he sleeps in the courtroom?
The dead woman
Chapter 8-pages 69-78
1. What is Mr. Dupin planning to do in the afternoon?
Visit Mrs. Whitman
2. Whom does Edmund overhear talking?
Mr. Arnold and Mrs. Powers
3. Who are they in relation to Mrs. Whitman?
The man she is supposed to marry and her mother
4. What does Edmund find while in the house?
A piece of paper with odd writing on it (a secret code)
5. What does Mr. Dupin swear to himself?
Never to drink again
6. What does Mrs. Whitman wish to know about Mr. Dupin?
If he is drinking
7. What message must Edmund give to Mr. Dupin?
Come to the graveyard at 3:30
8. Why does Mr. Dupin go to the bank?
To learn about the robbery
9. What did Mr. Peterson find in the vault?
A white button
10. What does Mr. Dupin think about the escape route through the ceiling?
No grown person would fit
11. What happens to Mr. Dupin while in the vault?
He faints
Chapter 9-pages 79-87
1. What happens when Edmund returns to the café?
Dupin is gone
2. What does Mr. Peterson hope to be?
An investigator
3. Who is following Mr. Dupin?
Throck
4. What does Edmund notice about his room?
Everything was in shambles
5. What does Edmund discover is missing?
A picture of Aunty Pru and Mum
6. Who was the man in the clothing store?
Mr. Rachett
7. What does Mr. Dupin tell Edmund when they meet?
He has news of Sis
Chapter 10-pages 88-97
1. What does Mr. Dupin say that he knows about Sis?
Why she was stolen
2. What advice does Mr. Dupin ask Edmund for?
If he should marry Mrs. Whitman
3. How does Mr. Dupin react when Edmund tells him about the room’s condition?
He is upset that he wasn’t told sooner
4. What does Edmund tell Mr. Dupin about his father?
That he had a step-father named Rachett
5. What did Edmund’s stepfather do to his mother?
Took her money and left
6. Why did Edmund’s mother come to America?
To find Ratchett, get the money, and get a divorce
7. What does Mr. Dupin tell Edmund to do while he is gone?
Ask Captain Elias about the Lady Liberty
8. What does Mr. Dupin want to know?
He wants to see if Fortnoy lied under oath
9. Who does Mr. Dupin think murdered Aunty?
Fortnoy
The Man Who Was Poe
Study Guide Part II
Directions: Answer the following questions. Although you are not required to answer in
complete sentences, you must answer each question thoroughly. Additionally, provide page
number(s) from where you find your answers.
Chapter 11-pages 101-107
1. How does Edmund plan to test Mr. Dupin?
To see if he truly goes to Mrs. Whitman’s
2. What does Edmund notice as he follows Mr. Dupin?
Someone else was following him too
3. What does Mr. Dupin discover about the rope he finds?
It is similar to the rope in the bell tower
4. How does Mr. Dupin think the gold was taken from the bank?
A child was lowered through the roof opening and passed the gold up in a basket
5. Where does Mr. Dupin eventually go?
Mrs. Whitman’s
6. Where does Catherine go?
The Hotel American House
7. Why does Mr. Dupin stand in the mausoleum entrance?
It would look like he was just emerging from death
8. Who does Mr. Dupin see in the cemetery?
The ghost of the woman taken from the bay
9. Who grabs hold of Mr. Dupin?
Throck
Chapter 12-pages 108-113
1. Whom does Edmund see with Mr. Dupin?
Mr. Ratchett
2. What is happening to Edmund?
He was being followed
3. What does Mr. Dupin ask Throck?
If he saw the ghost
4. Where is Mr. Dupin going?
To the mausoleum
5. Who comes in after him?
Throck
6. Who appears as the two men are in the mausoleum?
Mrs. Whitman
7. What happened to the first note Mr. Dupin sent?
Mrs. Whitman’s mother intercepted it
Chapter 13-pages 114-120
1. What does Mr. Dupin see in every woman’s face? Every man’s face?
The apparition; Edmund
2. Where did Mr. Dupin think he was?
A gathering of demons
3. Who is Mr. Arnold?
The man who was to marry Mrs. Whitman
4. Who did Mr. Dupin think was the devil?
Mr. McFarlane
5. What types of things does Poe write about?
Crime, brutality, death
6. How does Mr. Dupin describe evil?
The name we give our secret fears
7. What does Mr. Dupin say writers write about?
What they know best
8. What does Mr. Arnold do after Mr. Dupin introduces the coat story?
He leaves
9. What do we learn about the name Auguste Dupin?
He is a character in one of Poe’s stories
10. What will determine the length of Mr. Dupin’s stay?
Mrs. Whitman
11. What is Mr. Dupin planning to do?
Have his portrait done
12. How does Mr. Dupin reply to the question concerning which image he will present in the
portrait?
He says he never knows
Chapter 14-pages 121-129
1. How long does Edmund discover Fortnoy was on the ship?
3 days
2. What does Edmund plan to do about the person following him?
Catch him at the end of the dock
3. What does Edmund discover about the person following him?
White hair
4. Who does Edmund believe the person is?
Fortnoy
5. Where is Edmund going after he leaves the wharf?
Mrs Whitman’s
Chapter 15-pages 130-138
1. What does Edmund see in the graveyard at Mrs. Whitman’s house?
A man praying
2. What does Mr. Dupin tell Edmund to do in the graveyard?
Go inside the mausoleum
3. Why does Mr. Dupin go to the arcade?
To get his portrait done
4. What does Mr. Dupin see while he is having his portrait done?
A picture of Edmund’s mum
5. What does Mr. Dupin learn about Edmund’s mother and aunt?
They are twins
6. What does Mr. Dupin find in the graveyard?
A white button
Chapter 16-pages 139-150
1. According to Mr. Dupin, what does the button suggest?
Sis was alive very recently
2. Where does Mr. Dupin claim he saw either Aunty or Mum? Why?
In the cemetery and in court, he thinks that one of the twins is still living
3. Why is it important that Edmund noticed that the dress on the body was not Aunty’s?
It helped Dupin determine that the two women had been together
4. What does Edmund learn about Mr. Dupin’s real name?
It is Edgar Allan Poe
5. What does Edmund discover in the saloon?
A reward note concerning his mother
6. Who is Mr. Ratchett?
Mr. Arnold
7. Who attacks Mr. Dupin?
Mr. Ratchett
8. What does the coded note that Edmund found say?
Meet me at the hotel
Chapter 17-pages 151-162
1. Why has Mr. Ratchett changed his name to Mr. Arnold?
Arnold is a well respected name
2. How has Mr. Ratchett learned of Aunty’s arrival in Providence?
The notice offering the reward
3. What two things must Mr. Ratchett do before marrying Mrs. Whitman?
Rid himself of his wife and acquire money
4. Why is divorce not a suitable option?
Mrs. Powers will not accept it
5. What did Mr. Ratchett and Mr. Peterson do with Sis?
Lowered her into a vault to get the money
6. Why will Poe no longer help Edmund?
He already has his story
Chapter 18-pages 163-168
1. What does Edmund discover when he goes to the church?
Mum
2. How did Mr. Ratchett and Mr. Peterson get the key to Edmund’s room?
From Aunty
3. How did Aunty and Mum confuse Mr. Ratchett and Mr. Peterson?
They switched clothes
4. Why did they want to confuse the men?
So they would not murder Mum
5. What happened as a result of the confusion?
Aunty was murdered
The Man Who Was Poe
Study Guide Part III
Directions: Answer the following questions. Although you are not required to answer in
complete sentences, you must answer each question thoroughly. Additionally, provide page
number(s) from where you find your answers.
Chapter 19-pages 171-179
1. What does Edmund ask Poe about himself (Edmund)?
If Poe knows who he is
2. Why does Edmund go to find Throck?
To ask him to help him
3. What does he ask Throck to do for him?
Find Sis
4. What agreement does Edmund make with Throck?
He will help him get the reward
5. Why does Edmund take Mr. Poe’s notebook?
To make him tell what he knows about Sos
Chapter 20-pages 180-186
1. What does Edmund remember about Sunrise?
It was a boat
2. Where is Edmund going? Why?
To the docks, to rescue Sis
3. Where does Edmund think Sis is?
On Sunrise
4. Why does Edmund go alone to the docks?
No one else will help
5. Who does he see at the boat?
Peterson
6. What happens to Edmund?
He is stuck from behind
Chapter 21-pages 187-196
1. Who shows up to help Edmund?
Throck and Poe
2. What will they attempt to do about Sis?
Catch the boat
3. What does Poe insist about Sis?
She is dead
4. What does Poe tell Edmund about his story?
He cannot change it
5. How does Edmund discover that Sis is alive?
Peterson was holding her
6. What does Sis do to escape?
Jumped in the water
7. What does Edmund do as a result?
Jumped in as well
8. What happens to Sis and Edmund?
Throck pulled them out of the water
9. What happens to Mr. Ratchett and Mr. Peterson?
Their boat crashed
10. What is Poe doing when Edmund turns to look at him?
Weeping
Chapter 22-pages 197-198
1. What does Edmund tell Poe he is frightened of?
Living
2. Why does Poe think Sis should have been allowed to die?
She would live longer in his story
3. What does Poe say happened to the story?
Edmund destroyed it
4. What was the original name of the character in Poe’s story?
Edgar
5. What name did he change it to?
Edmund
Something About Edgar Allan Poe-pages 199-200
1. Who did Poe end up living with as a young boy?
Aunty
2. Who did he marry?
Virginia
3. What did he call his wife?
Sis
4. What happened to her?
She died of Tuberculosis
5. Why did Poe’s engagement with Mrs. Whitman end?
He broke his pledge to not drink
6. How did Poe die?
Under mysterious circumstances