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Poe's Short Stories

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Edgar Allan Poe Biography

Summary, Analysis, and Original Text

The Gothic Story: Introduction to "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "Ligeia"
"The Fall of the House of Usher"
"Ligeia"
Tales Of Ratiocination, Or Detective Fiction: Introduction to "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "The Purloined Letter"
"The Murders in the Rue Morgue"
"The Purloined Letter"
Stories of the Psychotic Personality: Introduction to "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Black Cat"
"The Tell-Tale Heart"
"The Black Cat"
Tales Of The Evil (Or Double) Personality: Introduction to "The Cask of Amontillado" and "William Wilson"
"The Cask of Amontillado"
"William Wilson"
The Horror Story: Introduction to "The Pit and the Pendulum" and "The Masque of the Red Death"
"The Pit and the Pendulum"
"The Masque of the Red Death"

Critical Essays

Edgar Allan Poe and Romanticism
Poe's Critical Theories

Study and Homework Help

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Quiz

1:  When Prince Prospero sees the stranger in “The Masque of the Red Death,” he

a. is happy to see his old friend

b. becomes indignant at the intrusion

c. regrets he did not invite him to the party

d. begins to tell a long, rambling story
2:  The narrator of “Ligeia” is

a. Poe

b. Lady Ligeia

c. Lady Rowena

d. unnamed
3:  Lady Ligeia is

a. a vampire

b. a writer of mysteries

c. a typical Romantic woman of mystery

d. an opium addict
4:  “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” is

a. a locked-room mystery

b. a medical thriller

c. a spoof of eighteenth-century satire

d. one of Poe’s few multiple-narrator stories
5:  The witnesses in “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” agree on what one thing?

a. Inspector Dupin is not very bright.

b. There were two voices heard from within the apartment.

c. One of the bodies was found on the floor of the apartment.

d. There had been a violent argument on the night of the murders.
6:  In “The Purloined Letter,” Monsieur G---- is primarily concerned with details and evidence while Dupin is more focused on

a. justice

b. psychological elements

c. getting a reward

d. exposing Minister D----
7:  The narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart” gradually reveals that he is

a. not taken seriously

b. kinder than he lets on

c. carrying a grudge

d. insane
8:  The narrator of “The Black Cat” differs from the narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart” because

a. he knows he is insane

b. he is afraid of cats

c. he has an unsavory past

d. he is proven innocent
9:  When the narrator of “The Black Cat” finds a stray that reminds him of Pluto, he

a. throws a rock at it

b. takes it home

c. runs from it

d. confesses to his wife his past cruelty to Pluto
10:  The narrator of “The Cask of Amontillado” had

a. carried a grudge against Fortunato

b. lost a good deal of money at cards

c. wished to share his discovery with Montressor

d. once been a mason
11:  Montressor’s family coat of arms and motto show the reader that

a. he was a forgiving man

b. he came from a family with a taste for wine

c. he came from a family with a taste for revenge

d. he had no sense of humor
12:  In the story “William Wilson,” the character known as The Other is

a. a figment of the narrator’s imagination

b. a close friend of Dr. Bransby

c. an actual person named William Wilson

d. an affectionate name for the school nurse
13:  “The Pit and the Pendulum” begins with

a. a trial

b. a game of cards between four friends

c. the narrator confessing his sins to a priest

d. the narrator awakening from a drugged sleep
14:  The theme of “The Masque of the Red Death” is

a. live and let live

b. seize the day

c. the futility of trying to escape death

d. positive thinking saves the day
15:  Who said the following: “I feel that the period will sooner or later arrive when I must abandon life and reason together, in some struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR.”

a. Lady Madeline

b. The narrator

c. Roderick Usher

d. Sir Launcelot Canning



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