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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who first occupies the place the lyrics describe?

2. What is one of the Usher's favorite volumes that the narrator and Usher read?

3. Upon what do the clouds press according to the narrator?

4. What does Usher try to overcome in the presence of the narrator according to the narrator?

5. What word does the narrator use to describe the tapestries?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the narrator regularly observe Roderick doing after Madeline's death?

2. Who does the narrator meet on the stairs and what is the narrator's impression of the person?

3. How does the narrator respond to Roderick's increasing instability?

4. What announcement does Roderick abruptly make one evening?

5. What does the narrator think of Roderick's ostensible reason for delaying Madeline's burial?

6. How does the narrator throw off his sense of gloom upon approaching the house?

7. What do the narrator and Roderick do for one last time before placing Madeline's coffin in the vault?

8. How do the men like the book the narrator reads and what surprises the narrator about Roderick's response to the book?

9. What seems to be happening in "real" time as the narrator reads?

10. What is the significance of the small volume titled “Directorium Inquisitorium,” by the Dominican Eymeric de Gironne?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Identify the protagonists of the story and why you believe they are such? Identify the antagonists of the story and why you believe they are such? Which three secondary characters have the greatest impact on the plot? Which, if any, characters are not essential to the story? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Characters are an integral and important part of almost all stories.

Compare/contrast the characters of Roderick and Lady Madeline. How are they similar? How are they different? Is there a flaw in each of their personalities? Be specific and give examples. Compare/contrast the characters of Roderick and the narrator. How do they seem different? Which do you like more? Why? Which one seems more of a well-rounded character?

Essay Topic 3

Poe includes a poem, The Haunted Palace, in the story which he later publishes separately.

Discuss the meaning the poem has to the story. Use examples from The Fall of the House of Usher to support your reasoning.

(see the answer keys)

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