The Tell-Tale Heart Group at eNotes

nervous a bit crazy insane

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 06:57:46 PST

nervous a bit crazy insane

Poe's choice of title leads us to believe that the 'heart' will tell a...

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:36:29 PST

Poe's choice of title leads us to believe that the 'heart' will tell a tale. On the surface the reader feels and reads that the heart (physical part of the body), is key to the mystery. The plot in fact does reveal that the heart uncovered the murderer. A deeper evaluation and understanding of Poe's mastery with the human language and literary devices, leads to the realization that the 'heart' is a mere symbol of the human spirit. It is...

Poe's work is a vehicle for student emotional reaction and a creative...

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:12:09 PST

Poe's work is a vehicle for student emotional reaction and a creative springboard for writing. Instructor's can make use of his diligent use of literary devices, which students eagerly seek to explore due to their interest in his work. Poe was not timid about his subject matter and this ignites the student. "The Tell Tale Heart" depicts Poe at his best. It is interesting to have students crawl through his passages in search of...

Edgar Allan Poe is the master of thriller stories and horror stories. He...

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:03:42 PST

Edgar Allan Poe is the master of thriller stories and horror stories. He focuses on the macabre in his writing. The Tell-Tale Heart tells us that something about this story is going to involve a type of tattle tale. It might be a romance, but based on what we know about Poe's history, we can presume that it will not be a romance as we understand it. We might presume that the conscience or "heart" tells on itself. The title almost gives away...

Define the title of "The Tale-Tell Heart."

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:36:35 PST

Define the title of "The Tale-Tell Heart."

The first half of "The Tell-Tale Heart" takes place inside a house with...

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:51:25 PST

The first half of "The Tell-Tale Heart" takes place inside a house with no reference to a city or country setting. However, once the murder occurs certain elements let the reader realize that the murder has taken place in the city setting. A reference is made that four hours pass in the interval of the murder and the arrival of the police. To the modern reader, that may seem a long time for a murder response, but it would have been quite...

What are some of the city life and country life elements in "The Tell...

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:17:48 PST

What are some of the city life and country life elements in "The Tell Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe?

The narrator in "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a first person narrator. The...

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:05:48 PST

The narrator in "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a first person narrator. The man who was involved in the action of the story tells the story from the first person, using "I" to relate the action. In "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calvaras County," the story is technically in first person, because it uses the "I" to relate the events, however, it is a bit more complicated than that. The story is told almost in a third-person first person. To...

How is the narrator in "The Tell-Tale Heart" different from the narrator...

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:39:56 PST

How is the narrator in "The Tell-Tale Heart" different from the narrator of Mark Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"?

Edgar Allen Poe/Tell-Tale Heart/Black Cat

Everyone loves a good thriller. Just take a look at the TV show...

Thu, 28 May 2009 11:19:04 PST

Everyone loves a good thriller. Just take a look at the TV show listings--it's cluttered with shows like Medium, Haunted History, Ghost Hunters, and others just like it which point out our love of the paranormal and thriller-type stories.

The role of the reader is to thoroughly question the motives of the...

Mon, 25 May 2009 01:59:50 PST

The role of the reader is to thoroughly question the motives of the character and rely on the tension that is created. The reader may be misled by the writer, and much is left in doubt at the end. It leads to great discussions, though.

I could see most readers react to this story with delight. Everyone...

Mon, 25 May 2009 01:57:30 PST

I could see most readers react to this story with delight. Everyone loves a great thriller, and coupled with a murder and an ingenious criminal, it has all the aspects of a great made-for-tv movie.

The "Tell-Tale Heart" is an American classic. The teller of Poe’s tale...

Fri, 22 May 2009 11:29:31 PST

The "Tell-Tale Heart" is an American classic. The teller of Poe’s tale is a classic unreliable narrator. The narrator is not deliberately trying to mislead his audience; he is delusional, and the reader can easily find the many places in the story where the narrator’s telling reveals his mistaken perceptions. His presentation is also deeply ironic: the insistence on his sanity put his madness on display. The first paragraph alone, brief as...

I think that what makes "The Tell-Tale Heart" so appealing for high...

Fri, 22 May 2009 11:11:23 PST

I think that what makes "The Tell-Tale Heart" so appealing for high school teachers is the theme. I love this story because it succinctly and effectively deals with the universal and timeless theme of guilt. This theme is dealt with beautifully in many great works of literature; "Crime and Punishment", "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", "The Picture of Dorian Gray". Amazingly, Poe is able to consider the idea of guilt in short story. I love teaching...

"The Tell-Tale heart" is a classic horror story that illustrates every...

Fri, 22 May 2009 11:02:46 PST

"The Tell-Tale heart" is a classic horror story that illustrates every component of effective composition. It is an easy read, comparatively speaking, for the average high school freshman, yet it exposes the student to one of the master authors of American literature. It is both complex and accessible. For high school students to receive a broad-based education, they need to be exposed to a wide variety of literature. This story illustrates...

Part of the beauty of this story is its compact simplicity. Poe...

Thu, 21 May 2009 18:20:41 PST

Part of the beauty of this story is its compact simplicity. Poe believed firmly that a short story should be something that could be read in one sitting. The reason he believed this was because a short story has a specific effect, and to walk away from the reading would remove the effect. The effect of this story is powerful and successful. Poe creates the mood of tension and anxiety within the first few lines and then builds it to the...

"The Tell-Tale Heart" is still widely read today, because it is such a...

Thu, 21 May 2009 18:20:28 PST

"The Tell-Tale Heart" is still widely read today, because it is such a great story. It has a fascinating narrator who confesses to murder right off the bat-that is a great hook to get people interested. Then his description of the eye, the waiting in the dark, the horror of the old man, the audacity of placing the police right above the body, the beating heart, and the gushing confession...all are just so well-writtng, suspenseful, and...

Simply put: The Tell-Tale Heart is a classic. Because this as well as...

Thu, 21 May 2009 18:16:38 PST

Simply put: The Tell-Tale Heart is a classic. Because this as well as many of Poe's other works have been deemed as such, they continue to be written into curriculum and printed into textbooks. As a result, new generations of readers are being introduced to the story and becoming fans of Poe's work. The great thing about literature is that it is timeless. While the stories and characters change, the themes remain the same. Love, Revenge,...

Why is "The Tell-Tale Heart" still widely read today?

Thu, 21 May 2009 17:53:06 PST

Why is "The Tell-Tale Heart" still widely read today?