“The Tell-Tale Heart”
Name: _____________________________
Directions: Please answer the following questions related to mood, foreshadowing, suspense, narrator,
and inference.
Mood and Foreshadowing
1. What sort of a mood do the pictures and the pulled quotes establish?
2. How does the opening paragraph foreshadow the events of the story?
Suspense
3. How does the author create suspense in the story? Give one specific example.
Narrator / Inference
4. Based on the opening paragraph, are you likely to believe the narrator’s story? Why?
5. On p. 204, the narrator says that he “kept quite still and said nothing” and didn’t move for a
whole hour. Do you believe him? Why?
6. On p. 204, the narrator says that he heard the old man’s heartbeat and it increased his fury. Can
the narrator really hear the old man’s heartbeat? What else might he hear?
7. On p. 205, the narrator says that he smiled to see the deed so far done. On p. 206, he laughs
after he says that a tub caught all of the blood. What do you infer about him from these details?
8. On p. 206, the narrator says three times that the old man is dead. Why?
9. To whom might the narrator be telling his story? Where do you think he is as he tells it?
10. The narrator tries desperately to convince his listener that he is sane. What evidence does he
give? How do his arguments actually demonstrate his madness?
“The Tell-Tale Heart”
Name: _____________________________
Directions: Please answer the following questions related to suspense, narrator, and inference.
Suspense
1. How does the author create suspense in the story? Give one specific example.
Narrator / Inference
2. Based on the opening paragraph, are you likely to believe the narrator’s story? Why?
3. On p. 204, the narrator says that he “kept quite still and said nothing” and didn’t move for a
whole hour. Do you believe him? Why?
4. Re-read the third paragraph on p. 204, starting “Presently I heard a slight groan…” What can
you infer about the narrator from the passage relating to the old man and his fears?
5. On p. 204, the narrator says that he heard the old man’s heartbeat and it increased his fury. Can
the narrator really hear the old man’s heartbeat? What else might he hear?
6. On p. 205, the narrator says that he smiled to see the deed so far done. On p. 206, he laughs
after he says that a tub caught all of the blood. What do you infer about him from these details?
7. On p. 206, the narrator says three times that the old man is dead. Why?
8. Re-read the second paragraph on p. 206. Why does the narrator place emphasis on the word
“his” when he says that not even the old man’s eye could have detected something wrong?
9. To whom might the narrator be telling his story? Where do you think he is as he tells it?
10. The narrator tries desperately to convince his listener that he is sane. What evidence does he
give? How do his arguments actually demonstrate his madness?
“The Tell-Tale Heart”
Name: _____________________________
Directions: Please answer the following questions related to narrator and inference.
Narrator / Inference
1. Based on the opening paragraph, are you likely to believe the narrator’s story? Why?
2. On p. 204, the narrator says that he “kept quite still and said nothing” and didn’t move for a
whole hour. Do you believe him? Why?
3. Re-read the third paragraph on p. 204, starting “Presently I heard a slight groan…” What can
you infer about the narrator from the passage relating to the old man and his fears?
4. Re-read the fourth paragraph on p. 204, starting “When I had waited…” Why does the narrator
repeat words in this passage about opening the lantern?
5. On p. 204, the narrator says that he heard the old man’s heartbeat and it increased his fury. Can
the narrator really hear the old man’s heartbeat? What else might he hear?
6. On p. 205, the narrator says that he smiled to see the deed so far done. On p. 206, he laughs
after he says that a tub caught all of the blood. What do you infer about him from these details?
7. On p. 206, the narrator says three times that the old man is dead. Why?
8. Re-read the second paragraph on p. 206. Why does the narrator place emphasis on the word
“his” when he says that not even the old man’s eye could have detected something wrong?
9. To whom might the narrator be telling his story? Where do you think he is as he tells it?
10. The narrator tries desperately to convince his listener that he is sane. What evidence does he
give? How do his arguments actually demonstrate his madness?