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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 does the narrator describe Usher as seeming to pour forth as if it were "an inherent positive quality"?

3. What does Usher do when Madeline passes through the apartment?

4. How does the narrator describe the clouds?

5. How does Usher react to bright light?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator feel as he approaches the House of Usher?

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

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

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

5. For what purpose and when was the vault used in previous times?

6. What does Roderick believe he has done to Madeline?

7. To what does the narrator attribute the changes in Roderick?

8. One is one topic of discussion between the narrator and Roderick that arises from the singing of Roderick's song, "The Haunted Palace"?

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

10. How does Roderick explain his desire to delay the burial of Madeline?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Poe does an exemplary job of portraying gloom, fear and horror.

Discuss some of the techniques Poe uses to elicit the emotions he wants from the reader. Use examples from The Fall of the House of Usher to support your reasoning.

Essay Topic 2

Poe was a literary critic as well as a writer. He claims a story must concentrate on a single effect.

What is the single effect in The Fall of the House of Usher and how is this effect evident in the characters, the setting and the symbolism?

Essay Topic 3

The narrator approaches the House of Usher with great trepidation when he sees the disrepair. He is telling the story of visiting a friend.

It might occur to the reader that the main character is the narrator but the story gives very little information about him. Discuss how it affects the story not knowing much about the narrator. Use examples from The Fall of the House of Usher to support your reasoning.

(see the answer keys)

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