1. Retell what has happened in the beginning: The narrator has been
tried by the inquisition; he hears his own death sentence,
hallucinates, and faints
2. What has the narrator dreamed, and what does he realize at that
moment? He dreamed that people carried him down steps and his
heart stops. Then he remembers lying in a damp place.
3. What is the “most hideous” of fates? How does the narrator come
to realize that this punishment is not for him? buried alive - he
knows he is NOT buried alive when he tries moving/walking around
4. Retell what has happened to the narrator since he awakened in the
dungeon. What effect does the discovery of the pit have on the
narrator? In total darkness, he feared he was in a tomb but found
he was not. He groped his way around the cell’s perimeter and
then tried to cross the cell but tripped, landing with his head over a
pit. He dropped a stone to measure the depths. He is shaken by
his narrow escape.
5. What causes the narrator to be confused about the size and shape
of his cell? Now that he sees his surroundings more clearly, how is
he affected? He was confused by the darkness and by the
disorientation that his lapses of consciousness created. Seeing his
cell relieves some of his uncertainty, but its odd metal walls and
their creepy paintings fill him with dread.
6. The narrator has just given a detailed description of his cell:
describe what he has seen: The cell is square (perimeter about 25
yrds), with a stone floor and a central pit from which rats swarm.
The walls are jointed metal plates with grotesque paintings. A
pendulum swings slowly from a 30-40 ft ceiling with a painting of
Father Time.
7. Retell what has happened to the narrator since he first saw the rats
coming out of the pit. As the rats nibble his food, he sees that the
pendulum is sharp and slowly coming down towards his heart. He
eats a bit, then drifts in and out of consciousness, his attention
focused on the pendulum. Time passes, blade gets closer.
8. Why does the narrator rub the binding with the meat? What effect
does this have on the situation? He wants to get the rats to gnaw
through his bonds. They increase his horror by swarming over him,
but they do eventually eat away the straps and free him.
9. What third crisis does the narrator face after he escapes from his
“bed of horror”? The metal walls and ceiling of the dungeon glow
red hot and close in on him, forcing him towards the pit.
Period 2:
Do you think the narrator escaping the Pendulum, the
shrinking walls, and the pit takes away from the horror of
the story (PEC)?
Period 3:
Develop a logical argument why the narrator thought dying
by the pendulum was a milder death than dying by the pit.
Period 4:
What is the overall tone of “The Pit and the Pendulum”?
(PEC). – evidence comes from middle or end (AFTER he
faints)