The Cask
of Amontillado
Written by
Edgar Allan Poe
Morning Assignments
Preclude
Accost
Explicit
Terminate
Cask
Palazzo
endeavor
impunity
obstinate
retribution
Afflict
Recoil
Subside
Amontillado
Impose
immolate
succession
connoisseur
Please copy down these
vocabulary words in your
notebook under the heading
of “The Cask of
Amontillado” Vocabularyuse the dictionary to defineyou may work in pairs.


Selection Support Book pages
1 and 2 – you may work in
pairs
Build Grammar Skills

Pronouns help writers avoid repeating
names. The use of pronouns is especially
important in this story because there are
only two characters. Pronoun case refers
to the different forms a pronoun takes to
indicate its function in the sentence.
Pronoun Case

refers to the different forms a pronoun
takes to indicate its function in the
sentence.
Subjective Case Pronoun

I, we, you, he, she, it, they are used
when the pronoun performs the action

It is I.
The Objective Case

Me, us, you, him, her, it, them

is used when the pronoun receives the
action of the verb or object of a
preposition


Subject
ob. of prep.
In this respect I did not differ from him
materially.

Please place your homework
assignments on the front table
(journal writing)

In your notebook, answer the
following prompt. You must
answer in complete sentences
and in a full paragraph.

A catacomb is an underground
cemetery or crypt. There are
recesses for placing bodies of
the dead. For your journal,
imagine how your five senses
might react in an underground
cemetery. For starters, it is dark
and damp..
Today’s Assignments
Please place your homework assignments on the front
table (journal writing)
 Read information about Edgar Allan Poe pg. 2 in
Textbook
 Background and understanding
 Literary focus : Mood

Plot

The plot is quite simple. The first-person narrator, whom we
later discover to be named Montresor, announces immediately
that someone named Fortunato has injured him repeatedly and
has recently insulted him.

Montresor can stand no more; he vows revenge upon
Fortunato. The remainder of the story deals with Montresor's
methods of entrapping Fortunato and effecting his revenge
upon the unfortunate Fortunato.

Foremost is the fact that Montresor has never let Fortunato
know of his hatred.
Setting
 The
story begins around dusk, one evening
during the carnival season (similar to the Mardi
Gras festival in New Orleans) in an unnamed
European city. The location quickly changes
from the lighthearted activites associated with
such a festival to the damp, dark catacombs
under Montressor's palazzo which helps to
establish the sinister atmosphere of the story.
Characters
When the two meet during the carnival season, there
is a warm greeting with excessive shaking of hands
which Montresor attributes to the fact that Fortunato
had been drinking. Montresor also appears to be
"happy" to see Fortunato since he is planning to
murder him. Fortunato's clown or jester's costume
appears to be appropriate not only for the carnival
season but also for the fact that Montresor intends to
make a "fool" out of him.
Point of View

Poe writes this story from the perspective of Montresor who
vows revenge against Fortunato in an effort to support his timehonored family motto: "Nemo me impune lacessit" or "No one
assails me with impunity." (No one can attack me without being
punished .)

Poe does not intend for the reader to sympathize with Montresor
because he has been wronged by Fortunato, but rather to judge
him.

Telling the story from Montresor's point of view, intensifies the
effect of moral shock and horror. Once again, the reader is
invited to delve into the inner workings of a sinister mind.
Style and Interpretation

Poe's story is a case of premeditated
murder.

The reader becomes quickly aware of
the fact that Montresor is not a reliable
narrator, and that he has a tendency to
hold grudges and exaggerate terribly.