Support the development of close reading skills for high school with this set of analysis questions for Edgar Allan Poe’s The Black Cat." With an estimated Lexile Measure of 1100, the narrative and its corresponding close reading exercise are appropriate additions to a horror- or Halloween-themed short story unit. A copy of “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe is provided, as is a detailed answer key. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. By completing this activity, secondary students will demonstrate an ability to do the following:
- Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly
- Articulate the narrator’s intent in a given excerpt
- Isolate a false statement from factual details associated with a given excerpt
- Examine the narrator’s modes of thinking to discern and articulate what he identifies as the cause(s) of his current circumstances
- Analyze a given excerpt to discern its primary function
- Apply knowledge of the anaphora to an excerpt
- Apply knowledge of simile to an excerpt
- Apply knowledge of hyperbaton to an excerpt
- Apply knowledge of paradox to an excerpt
- Apply knowledge of alliteration to an excerpt
- Examine cause and effect relationships
- Conduct brief research on Roman mythology to discern and articulate why the name Pluto carries symbolic value
- Analyze the narrator’s past behaviors and statements to make logical inferences about the cause of a destructive fire
- Identify textual details to support the claim that the second cat never existed
- Use logic and textual evidence to support the claim that the narrator feels subconscious guilt over the murder of Pluto
- Articulate why the narrator may be resentful of his wife
- Articulate how the narrator exhibits hubris and how hubris contributes to plot development
- Write with clarity, logic, and precision
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Bundle of Short Story Close Reading Worksheets
This bundle of 20 assessments promotes analytical thinking, measures and extends reading comprehension, and offers flexibility of choice to differentiate and satisfy the academic needs of students of varying proficiency levels in classroom and distance learning settings. Included are close reading activities, answer keys, and copies of public domain texts. Short story selections include the following: "Desiree's Baby" by Kate Chopin * "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell * "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe * "The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving * "The Garden Party" by Katherine Mansfield * "The New Dress" by Virginia Woolf * "The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane * "The Open Window" by Saki * "The Oval Portrait" by Edgar Allan Poe * "A White Heron" by Sarah Orne Jewett * "After Twenty Years" by O. Henry * "The Businessman" by Edgar Allan Poe * "The Legend of the Christmas Rose" by Selma Lagerlof * "The Old Tombstone" by Hans Christian Andersen * "The Wind Blows" by Katherine Mansfield * "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen * "The Stolen Farthings" by the Brothers Grimm * "Slave on the Block" by Langston Hughes "The Wives of the Dead" by Nathaniel Hawthorne * "The Sparrow and His Four Children" by the Brothers Grimm * (* denotes a public domain text) By completing these analysis exercises, students will demonstrate the following high-order skills: * An ability to apply knowledge of more complex literary devices to the texts including foreshadowing, situational irony, dramatic irony, hyperbole, personification, metaphor, symbolism, theme, and more * An ability to analyze context clues and draw logical inferences about character motivations and other elements of plot * An ability to discern and articulate details that illustrate contrasts between characters * An ability to define complex words by taking into consideration denotative definitions, connotative definitions, and context clues * An ability to find and articulate relevant textual details in support of claims * An ability to discern mood and tone in context * An ability to discern author’s intent * An ability to conduct brief research and articulate historical and autobiographical parallels * An ability to analyze text structures * An ability to analyze text to determine the function of an excerpt * An ability to analyze a text for how it conforms to the conventions of a particular genre * An ability to establish formal tone, paying attention to conventions of written English * An ability to take leadership in class discussions, addressing nuances in the author’s craft to help peers understand literature from different perspectives
$40.00
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Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe Quiz and Close Reading Bundle
Promote active engagement with Gothic fiction, support the development of close reading analysis skills for high school, and evaluate general reading comprehension with this bundle of resources for teaching a collection of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories: "The Oval Portrait," "The Black Cat," "Hop-Frog," "The Cask of Amontillado," and "The Masque of the Red Death." Answer keys for every resource are provided, as are all public domain short stories. Materials are delivered in printable Word Document and PDF formats.
$33.00
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“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe Quiz and Close Reading Bundle
Promote active engagement with fiction, support the development of close reading analysis skills for high school, and evaluate general reading comprehension with this bundle of resources for teaching the Gothic short story “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe. Included are the following: a plot-based quiz, a worksheet composed of rigorous close reading questions, a craft analysis activity, the public domain narrative, and answer keys. Materials are delivered in printable Word Document and PDF formats. By engaging with these materials, students will perform the following tasks: * Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly * Articulate the narrator's intent in a given excerpt * Isolate a false statement from factual details associated with a given excerpt * Examine the narrator's modes of thinking to discern and articulate what he identifies as the cause(s) of his current circumstances * Analyze a given excerpt to discern its primary function * Apply knowledge of the anaphora to an excerpt * Apply knowledge of simile to an excerpt * Apply knowledge of hyperbaton to an excerpt * Apply knowledge of paradox to an excerpt * Apply knowledge of alliteration to an excerpt * Examine cause and effect relationships * Conduct brief research on Roman mythology to discern and articulate why the name Pluto carries symbolic value * Analyze the narrator's past behaviors and statements to make logical inferences about the cause of a destructive fire * Identify textual details to support the claim that the second cat never existed * Use logic and textual evidence to support the claim that the narrator feels subconscious guilt over the murder of Pluto * Articulate why the narrator may be resentful of his wife * Articulate how the narrator exhibits hubris and how hubris contributes to plot development * Write with clarity, logic, and precision
$7.50
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