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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 is the narrator later unable to convey about the time he spent with Usher?

2. What does the narrator call his "childish experiment"?

3. What happens to the trophies of armor when the narrator walks past them?

4. What does Usher as the narrator after a few moments of staring into space?

5. What does the narrator say about Usher's countenance after Madeline dies?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Roderick, what impact does the sentience of the plants around the House of Usher have on the Usher family?

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

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

4. What does the narrator do before actually going inside the House of Usher?

5. How does the narrator react upon first seeing Roderick?

6. How does the narrator describe the vault where Madeline's coffin is temporarily laid to rest?

7. How does the narrator react to Roderick's mood after Madeline's death?

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

9. What does the narrator discover when he gets up and bends his ear close to Roderick's mouth?

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

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

Foreshadowing is used in almost all works of fiction.

What is foreshadowing? Identify three instances of foreshadowing in The Fall of the House of Usher and what they foreshadow? How does foreshadowing contribute to a story’s suspense? Are there any incidences that you thought foreshadows a future event, but it does not do so?

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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