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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. What odors does Usher find oppressive?

2. Why does Usher want to wait a fortnight?

3. What does the narrator say may have originated in the tarn?

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

5. Besides books, what else were scattered about in the room?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the narrator do when he realizes that both twins are dead?

2. What is the only instrument Roderick can tolerate hearing?

3. What changes about Roderick's voice in the days following Madeline's death?

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

5. What does Roderick say in reply to the narrator's comment about how Roderick and Madeline resemble each other?

6. How does the narrator attempt to calm Roderick?

7. Why is the narrator unable to shake off his feelings of uneasiness the night of the storm?

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

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

10. How does the narrator help Roderick regarding Roderick's deceased sister?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The narrator gives a detailed description of the House of Usher as he first encounters it. The house appears to also symbolize Roderick and Lady Madeline.

What physical descriptions of the house seem to relate to Roderick? What ones seem to relate to Lady Madeline? Use examples from The Fall of the House of Usher to support your reasoning.

Essay Topic 2

Often, authors will write about what they know, and sometimes knowing a little about the author makes the story more interesting.

Research and give a brief biographical sketch of Edgar Allan Poe. Do you think there is always some of the author's own life in his/her stories? Why or why not? Give examples. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the Poe's agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the story and discuss Poe's probable agenda concerning that idea.

Essay Topic 3

Define plot and include the definitions of the most important elements of a plot. Do all stories have a plot? Why or why not? Write a brief synopsis of the plot of The Fall of the House of Usher, identifying where the various elements of the plot occur (Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution or denouement). Do you find it difficult to identify the plot? Why or why not? What about the various elements of the plot? Give a brief synopsis of any important sub-plots.

(see the answer keys)

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