






Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and develop critical thinking skills with this close reading analysis worksheet covering Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum,” a short story of special appeal to students who are interested in horror stories and Halloween. An answer key and copy of the public domain short story are provided. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats.
This resource may facilitate small-group discussions in which students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development. Using this resource for structured guidance, students will improve their ability to present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly and convincingly.
Students will perform the following tasks:
- Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly
- Demonstrate knowledge of the conventions of Dark Romanticism
- Determine the effects of the author’s language and narrative techniques
- Consider the role punctuation plays in terms of developing suspense and advancing plot with an emphasis on em dashes
- Examine how characters think, behave, interact, and develop
- Apply knowledge of literary devices with an emphasis on allusion, metaphor, onomatopoeia, paradox, personification, sibilance, situational irony, and more
- Articulate how the author establishes and maintains a surreal tone throughout the story
- Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
- Write about Gothic fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision
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Edgar Allan Poe's Short Stories - Quizzes and Analysis Activities (Volume 2)
This short story bundle includes vocabulary games, comprehension quizzes, and close reading inference worksheets to ensure high school students can read with a purpose and exercise critical thinking and literary analysis skills. Four narratives, each written by Edgar Allan Poe, are featured: "**The Fall of the House of Usher**," "**The Tell-Tale Heart**," "**The Pit and the Pendulum**," and "**The Premature Burial**." Answer keys and copies of the public domain texts are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By engaging with these activities, students will: * Read for literal comprehension * Utilize dictionaries to ensure knowledge of word meanings * Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences * Infer the intended effects of the author's word choices and narrative techniques * Demonstrate knowledge of the conventions of Dark Romanticism * Discern the intended effects of the author's diction, punctuation, and narrative techniques * Examine how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop * Apply knowledge of literary devices such as metaphor, foreshadowing, personification, situational irony, and more * Conduct brief research on Swiss painter Henry Fuseli to develop greater understanding of Poe's allusion to him in "The Fall of the House of Usher" * Explore the connection between the plot of "The Fall of the House of Usher" and the content of a poem titled "The Haunted Palace" * Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence * Write about Gothic fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision
"The Pit and the Pendulum" Quiz, Close Reading, and Vocabulary Activities Bundle
"The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe is a short story of special appeal to high school students interested in horror stories and Halloween. With this bundle of assessment materials, English teachers will save valuable time without sacrificing rigor in the classroom. Included are the following: a plot-based quiz, a close reading analysis worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, the public domain narrative, and answer keys. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. This resource may facilitate small-group discussions in which students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development. Using this resource for structured guidance, students will improve their ability to present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly and convincingly. By engaging with these materials, students will: * Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly * Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words * Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings * Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences * Consider the role punctuation plays in terms of developing suspense and advancing plot with an emphasis on em dashes * Demonstrate knowledge of the conventions of Dark Romanticism * Determine the effects of the author's language and narrative techniques * Examine how characters think, behave, interact, and develop * Apply knowledge of literary devices with an emphasis on allusion, metaphor, onomatopoeia, paradox, personification, sibilance, situational irony, and more * Articulate how the author establishes and maintains a surreal tone throughout the story * Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence * Write about Gothic fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision
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