What is the setting of the story?
During the Spanish inquisition in Toledo, Spain
What POV is the story written?
1st person POV
What type of judgment was the narrator sentenced to in the beginning of the story?
He was sentenced to death
Describe the appearance of the judges.
What figure do they remind you of?
They were black robed, pale white, and thin. The grim reaper.
How many candles were on the table? How were they described? Why do you think Poe used this number?
7. At first they were white slender Angels, but then they were meaningless spectators and they disappeared.
7 deadly sins
What were the two stages the narrator goes through when he returns from the swoon?
Return mentally/ spirituallyReturn physically
What did the narrator dread most when he opened his eyes?
Not seeing anything. Being in darkness. Buried alive.
According to the narrator, what would be the most "hideous of fates"
To be buried alive bc it was Poe's biggest fear.
What type of death do the judges have in mind for the narrator?
A slow painful death by torture
Describe the place the narrator was held captive
It was dark with stone walls.
It was cold and damp and slimy
What did the narrator hope to find in his pocket? What was he going to do with it?
His knife, and he was going to mark his spot in the wall in order to see how large the room was.
What was the narrator wearing?
A wrapper of coarse serge (burlap)
How did the narrator use his clothing?
He tore a piece of cloth and used it to mark his place on the wall so he could see how large the room was.
How large did the narrator presume the room to be? How did he measure the room in darkness?
50 yards he groped the wall and counted his paces until he returned to the piece of cloth to find the circumference of the room
Where did the narrator almost fall?
Into the pit
According to the story, what do you think the narrator means by "hideous moral horrors"
Torture
Why didn't the narrator jump into the pit?
He was a coward
What did the narrator suspect after he drank the vessel empty?
It was drugged
When the dungeon is illuminated, what does the narrator discover? What images does the narrator see?
He overestimated the size of the room. He sees the pit, torture devices, painted figures of demons and skeletons, Father Time with a pendulum.
What was the shape of the dungeon
Square
What happened to the narrator during his slumber? Where was he and under what circumstances?
He was strapped down to a wooden frame with only the mobility of his left arm up to his elbow and head. There was a pendulum swinging above his heart.
What was the narrator given to eat?
A plate of seasoned meat without water
What painted figure did the narrator see on one of the panels? What could this symbol represent about his predicament?
Father Time. It could symbolize how he is running out of time and coming to his death
What animals were running all over the floors? Why were they attracted to the narrator?
Rats. The meat.
Which of the five senses does the narrator use to describe the closeness of the pendulum
Smell, sight
What does the pendulum do to the narrator?
It breathes its acrid breath on him
What desperate plan does the narrator come up with to save his life?
He is going to break the bandage by the rats eating it in order to break free
Does the pendulum ever strike the narrator
Yes, it Knicks him just as he escapes
What happened to the pendulum after he freed himself? What does the narrator realize? Is he really free?
It stops and retracts.
He is being watched. No, he is still trapped.
After the narrator escaped the pendulum, which obstacle did he encounter next?
The walls were closing in and he had to face the pit
Where was the pendulum positioned
Over the narrator's heart
How did the judges think the narrator would escape his final obstacle?
By plunging into the pit
Who finally rescues the narrator?
General lasalle
