Deep-Thinking Question Handout with Storytelling Arc Activity
The Cask
of Amontillado
By Edgar Allan Poe
Procedure:
1. Day 1: Begin by asking students what they already know about Edgar Allan Poe. After discussing their prior
knowledge, you may want to provide a brief background about his sad, troubled life. Tell the class that the setting for
today’s story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” was inspired by the catacombs of Paris. Again, ask for any knowledge the
class already has about this topic. Show this YouTube video to help students visualize what the underground chambers
in this story look like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsqCXXyzlUM
(Stop the video at the 2:50 mark; beyond that, the host
doesn’t do anything important.)
2. Read the story together as a class.
3. Give a copy of the questions on page 6
to each student. Sometimes, I have students work
independently to answer the questions. Other times, I
allow them to work in teams of two. Some students may
have to finish the questions as homework.
4. Day 2: Collect students’ answers to yesterday’s
questions. Then, launch a class discussion as you go over
the answers to all of the questions. See pages 7-8 for
answers/discussion starters. This is an important step, as
it will help solidify students’ understanding of the deeper themes and techniques
used by Poe. The discussion is always rich and serves as a good model for
students who might struggle with literary analysis.
5. Hand out the storytelling arc worksheet on page 9. I allow
students to work for the rest of the period as they fill in their arcs.
Most students will finish by the end of the period, but a few may
need to finish as homework. I’ve included a completed arc for
you to use as a grading key or to project as you cover the answers
together on Day 3, if you wish.
Literary
Analysis
Reading
Writing
Thinking
materially; I was skillful in the Italian vintages myself, and bought largely
whenever I could.
It was about dusk, one evening
during the supreme madness of the
carnival season, that I encountered my
friend. He accosted me with excessive warmth,
for he had
been drinking much.
The man wore motley. He had on a
tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was
surmounted by the conical cap and bells. I was so pleased to see him
that I thought I should never have done wringing his hand.
I said to him, “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking today. But I have received a pipe of what passes
for Amontillado, and I have my doubts.”
“How?” said he. “Amontillado? A pipe? Impossible! And in the middle of the carnival!”
“I have my doubts,” I replied, “and I was silly enough to pay the full
Amontillado price without consulting you in the matter. You were not to
be found, and I was fearful of losing a bargain.”
“Amontillado!”
“I have my doubts.”
“Amontillado!”
“And I must satisfy them.”
“Amontillado!”
“As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchresi. If anyone has a
critical turn, it is he. He will tell me–”
“Luchresi cannot tell Amontillado from sherry.”
“And yet some fools will have it said that his taste is a match for your
own.”
“Come, let us go.”
“Whither?”
“To your vaults.”
“My friend, no. I will not impose upon your good nature. I perceive
you have an engagement. Luchresi–”
The Cask
of Amontillado
By Edgar Allan Poe
The thousand injuries of
Fortunato I had borne as I best
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. A wrong is unredressed
when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when
the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the
wrong.
It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given
Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as was my wont, to
smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the
thought of his immolation.
He had a weak point–this Fortunato–although in other regards he
was a man to be respected and even feared. He prided himself on his
connoisseurship in wine. Few Italians have the true virtuoso spirit. For the
most part, their enthusiasm is adopted to suit the time and opportunity, to
practice imposture upon the British and Austrian millionaires. In painting
and gemmary, Fortunato, like his countrymen, was a quack, but in the
matter of old wines he was sincere. In this respect I did not differ from him
“I have no engagement. Come.”
“My friend, no. It is not the engagement, but the severe cold with
which I perceive you are afflicted. The vaults are insufferably damp. They
are encrusted with nitre.”
“Let us go, nevertheless. The cold is merely nothing. Amontillado!
You have been imposed upon. And as for Luchresi, he cannot distinguish
sherry from Amontillado.”
Thus speaking, Fortunato possessed himself of my arm and, putting
on a mask of black silk and drawing a cloak closely about my person, I
suffered him to hurry me to my palazzo.
There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to
make merry in honor of the time. I had told them that I should
not return until the morning, and had given them explicit
orders not to stir from the house. These orders were sufficient,
I well knew, to insure their immediate disappearance, one
and all, as soon as my back was turned.
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.
The gait of my friend was unsteady, and the bells upon
his cap jingled as he strode.
“The pipe,” he said.
“It is farther on,” said, “but observe the white webwork
which gleams from these cavern walls.”
He turned towards me, and looked into my eves with two filmy orbs
that distilled the rheum of intoxication.
“Nitre?” he asked, at length.
“Nitre,” I replied. “How long have you had that cough?”
“Ugh! ugh! ugh! –ugh! ugh! ugh! –ugh! ugh! ugh! –ugh! ugh! ugh!
–ugh! ugh! ugh!”
My poor friend found it impossible to reply for many minutes.
“It is nothing,” he said, at last.
“Come,” I said, with decision, “we will go back; your health is precious.
You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was.
You are a man to be missed. For me, it is no matter. We will go back. You
will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchresi–”
“Enough,” he said. “The cough’s a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I
shall not die of a cough.”
“True–true,” I replied, “and, indeed, I had no intention of alarming
you unnecessarily...but you should use all proper caution. A draught of this
Medoc will defend us from the damps.”
Here I knocked off the neck of a bottle which I drew from a long row
of its fellows that lay upon the mould.
“Drink,” I said, presenting him the wine. He raised
it to his lips with a leer. He paused and nodded to me
familiarly, while his bells jingled.
“I drink,” he said, “to the buried that repose
around us.”
“And I to your long life.”
He again took my arm, and we proceeded.
“These vaults,” he said, “are extensive.”
“The Montresors,” I replied, “were a great and
numerous family.”
“I forget your arms.”
“A huge human foot d’or, in a field azure; the foot
crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded
in the heel.”
“And the motto?”
“Nemo me impune lacessit.” (No one attacks me
with impunity.)
“Good!” he said.
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
recesses of the catacombs. I paused again, and this time I made bold to
seize Fortunato by an arm above the elbow.
“The nitre!” 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 draught of the
Medoc.”
I broke and reached him a flagon of De Grave. He emptied it at a breath. His eyes flashed with a fierce light. He laughed and threw the bottle
upwards with a gesticulation I did not understand.
I looked at him in surprise. He repeated the movement–a grotesque one.
“You do not comprehend?” he said
“Not I,” I replied.
“Then you are not of the brotherhood.”
“How?”
“You are not of the masons.”
“Yes, yes,” I said, “yes, yes.”
“You? Impossible! A mason?”
“A mason,” I replied.
“A sign,” he said, “a sign.”
“It is this,” I answered, producing from beneath the folds of my cloak a
trowel.
“You jest,” he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces. “But let us proceed to the
Amontillado.”
“Be it so,” I said, replacing the tool beneath the cloak and again offering
him my arm. He leaned upon it heavily. We continued our route in search of the
Amontillado. We passed through a range of low arches, descended, passed on, and
descending again, arrived at a deep crypt, in which the foulness of the air caused
our flambeaux rather to glow than flame.
At the most remote end of the crypt there appeared another less spacious.
Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled to the vault overhead, in the
fashion of the great catacombs of Paris. Three sides of this interior crypt were still
ornamented in this manner. From the fourth side the bones had been thrown down,
and lay promiscuously upon the earth, forming at one point a mound of some size.
Within the wall thus exposed by the displacing of the bones, we perceived a still
interior crypt or recess, in depth about four feet, in width three, in height six or
seven. It seemed to have been constructed for no especial use within itself, but
formed merely the interval between two of the colossal supports of the roof of the
catacombs, and was backed by one of their circumscribing walls of solid granite.
It was in vain that Fortunato, uplifting his dull torch, endeavored to pry into
the depth of the recess. Its termination the feeble light did not enable us to see.
“Proceed,” I said. “Herein is the Amontillado. As for Luchresi–”
“He is an ignoramus,” interrupted my friend, as he stepped unsteadily
forward, while I followed immediately at his heels. In an instant, he had reached
the extremity of the niche, and finding his progress arrested by the rock, stood
stupidly bewildered. A moment more and I had fettered him to the granite.
In its surface were two iron staples, distant from each other about two
feet, horizontally. From one of these depended a short chain, from the
other a padlock. Throwing the links about his waist, it was but the work
of a few seconds to secure it. He was too much astounded to resist.
Withdrawing the key, I stepped back from the recess.
“Pass your hand,” I said, “over the wall; you cannot help feeling
the nitre. Indeed, it is very damp. Once more, let me implore you to
return. No? Then I must positively leave you. But I must first render
you all the little attentions in my power.”
“The Amontillado!” ejaculated my friend, not yet recovered
from his astonishment.
“True,” I replied, “the Amontillado.”
As I said these words, I busied myself among the pile of
bones of which I have before spoken. Throwing them aside, I
soon uncovered a quantity of building stone and mortar. With
these materials and with the aid of my trowel, I began vigorously
to wall up the entrance of the niche.
I had scarcely laid the first tier of the masonry when I
discovered that the intoxication of Fortunato had in a great
measure worn off. The earliest indication I had of this was a low
moaning cry from the depth of the recess. It was not the cry of
a drunken man. There was then a long and obstinate silence.
I laid the second tier, and the third, and the fourth; and then
I heard the furious vibrations of the chain. The noise lasted
for several minutes, during which, that I might hearken to
it with the more satisfaction, I ceased my labors and sat
down upon the bones. When at last the clanking subsided,
I resumed the trowel, and finished without interruption the
fifth, the sixth, and the seventh tier. The wall was now
nearly upon a level with my breast. I again paused, and
holding the flambeaux over the mason-work, threw a few
feeble rays upon the figure within.
A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting
suddenly from the throat of the chained form, seemed
to thrust me violently back. For a brief moment, I
hesitated; I trembled. Unsheathing my rapier, I began
to grope with it about the recess, but the thought of an
instant reassured me. I placed my hand upon the solid
fabric of the catacombs, and felt satisfied. I reapproached
the wall; I replied to the yells of him who clamored. I reechoed, I aided, I surpassed them in volume and in strength.
I did this, and the clamorer grew still.
It was now midnight, and my task was drawing to a
close. I had completed the eighth, the ninth, and the tenth
tier. I had finished a portion of the last and the eleventh; there
remained but a single stone to be fitted and plastered in. I
struggled with its weight; I placed it partially in its destined
position. But now there came from out the niche a low laugh
that erected the hairs upon my head. It was succeeded by a sad
voice, which I had difficulty in recognizing as that of the noble
Fortunato. The voice said: “Ha! ha! ha! –he! he! he! –a very
good joke, indeed –an excellent jest. We will have many a rich
laugh about it at the palazzo –he! he! he! –over our wine –he! he!
he!”
“The Amontillado!” I said.
“He! he! he! -–he! he! he! –yes, the Amontillado. But is it not
getting late? Will not they be awaiting us at the palazzo, the Lady
Fortunato and the rest? Let us be gone.”
“Yes,” I said, “let us be gone.”
“For the love of God, Montresor!”
“Yes,” I said, “for the love of God!”
But to these words I hearkened in vain for a reply. I grew impatient.
I called aloud–
“Fortunato!”
No answer. I called again–
“Fortunato!”
No answer still. I thrust a torch through the remaining aperture and
let it fall within. There came forth in return only a jingling of the bells.
My heart grew sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it
so. I hastened to make an end of my labor. I forced the last stone into its
position; I plastered it up. Against the new masonry I re-erected the old
rampart of bones. For the half of a century, no mortal has disturbed them.
In pace requiescat! (Rest in peace.)
The Cask of Amontillado
Questions
Directions: On a separate sheet of paper, answer the following questions.
To receive credit, you must write complete, thoughtful sentences.
1. Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration to make
a point. Look at the first paragraph. What phrase
used by the narrator is an example of hyperbole?
Write down the full sentence that includes the
hyperbolic element. Does this line make you more
sympathetic or less toward the narrator/murderer?
Why?
7. How did Montresor ensure that no servants would be around to witness
the crime?
2. Montresor tells us, “A wrong is unredressed
when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is
equally unredressed when the avenger fails to
make himself felt as such to him who has done
the wrong.” In your own words, explain what this
means.
10. This is the Montresor family’s
coat of arms. Symbolically, why
is this an appropriate image for
our narrator?
8. Poe uses several elements of foreshadowing. Write down (or paraphrase)
two lines that foreshadow the grisly event at the end of the tale.
9. Locate and write down a line that includes verbal irony.
11. When Montresor offers
the Medoc wine to Fortunato,
3. What is it about Montresor that makes him an what is the reason he gives for
especially effective enemy to Fortunato? Give an wanting the other man to drink?
example from a book you’ve read or a film/T.V. What is the real reason? Why
show you’ve seen in which this type of villain does Montresor also have a
exists.
drink?
4. Fortunato, who has been out drinking and 12. At the end of the story, what makes Montresor feel sick?
enjoying Carnival, is wearing a clown’s hat.
Symbolically, why is this an interesting–and 13. Is Montresor a reliable or unreliable narrator? Explain your answer.
appropriate–costume choice by the writer, Edgar
Allan Poe?
14. Poe is a master at creating an eerie, suspenseful mood in his stories.
Dig back into the text of this story and write down two lines that help
5. To whom, do you suppose, is Montresor telling establish this mood. Yes, I want you to write down the full line.
this story? Upon what evidence do you base your
assumption?
15. Montresor acts as judge, jury, and executioner of Fortunato. Is there
any crime/offense that Fortunato could have unwittingly committed that
6. Name three of the many clever things Montresor would make Montresor’s rage seem reasonable to you? Do you think
does to lure Fortunato into his trap.
individuals are ever justified in taking justice into their own hands? Explain
your thoughts.