Tuesday, 12 October 2021

Assignment 4: Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe DEADLINE: Friday 15-10-2021

Please read The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe, you can find the story here:  

The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe (virginia.edu)


Now, pick one of the following discussion questions for your blog-post. Don't forget to write your answer in P.E.E.L. style and incorporate a conditional!

1. What is the significance of the title of the story, “The Tell-Tale Heart”? What does the title mean? 

2. Why does the narrator call himself “nervous” but not “mad” in paragraph 1? What does this tell us about him? How does the author’s point of view impact the telling of the story? 

3. What do you think the relationship between the old man and the narrator is? What could have been the reason for the old man’s “vulture eye”? 

4. Do you think the narrator would have killed the man if he did not have an “evil eye”? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer. 

5. The two main symbols in the story are the eye and the heart. What do these symbols represent? Why are they important? 

6. What sound does the narrator hear after the murder? In reality, what could it be? Why does it get louder and louder? 

7. The gender of the narrator is not revealed in the story, although many people assume it is a man. If the narrator were a woman, how would this change your interpretation of the story? 

8. Repetition- Poe is known for using repetition in his work. Find a line that is repeated and tell how it impacts the story.

28 comments:

  1. Caitlin Jones
    ‘The sound got louder and louder’ you might question now, what sound? After the murder had happend and the police came to the house, the narrator hears a sound. He says it’s getting louder and louder, but what could that sound be? Was it even a sound? I don’t think that it’s a sound he’s hearing, it’s a voice he’s hearing in his head. A voice of guilt. All the time he says he has nothing to fear. But no one could have nothing to fear after having killed someone and knowing the police could find the body. I mean if the police are in the house they will find out. And it was just the eye he couldn’t stand. He found the man a nice person. That’s why he felt all of that guilt, he never hated the man. Just the eye. And because he was so nice to the man that whole week, they had built a bond. And if you then kill someone, you will have enormous regret. So it isn’t just a sound he’s hearing it’s a voice, a voice of pure regret and guilt.

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    Replies
    1. Nice story, i like how u used the questions.

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    2. It's a good story, the introduction was good and made me want to read the rest of the story.

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    3. good use of rhetorical questions.

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  2. Tom Rijken
    The tell-tale heart: question 5

    I think the heart symbolizes how nervous the man is while he is in the old man’s room. And i think the eye is a symbol for the narrator’s thoughts and motivation to kill the old man that was sleeping. The narrator is so nervous that he can hear the heartbeat of the old man. He hears every little sound around him. The only reason the narrator wants to kill the old man is because of his eye that looks like one of a vulture as the story told. There was no good reason fort he murder the old man has done no bad thing. He is so nervous, because If the old man gets awake, because of a small noise, the narrator probably will get into an uncomfortable situation or even in big trouble. And he killed the old man because he he probably thought his eye was scary. So both of the symbols have to do with the murder of the old man.

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  3. Wouter Timmermans

    Tell-Tale hearth, what does it mean? Let me explain what I think. The store gets narrated by someone who (I assume) very loudly killed the old man with. Our protagonist explains to us that he entered the old man’s house multiple times at midnight, and every time he checks if he is awake. Then one day the old man heard him enter and they both froze, neither of them seeing each other. He then goes on about how he was “listening to a noise”, now in my opinion this is the old man’s heartbeat and later in the story it is confirmed that it is. After that when the police come (because if u kill someone loudly, the police will come) the heartbeat continues, even though the old man is dead. This is because (in my opinion) the narrator becomes nervous and HIS heartbeat increases. The reason it is called “Tell-Tale heart” is because someone TELLS the TALE about HEARTbeats.

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  4. Emma Peredo


    What was that annoying, ringing sound in his ears? What would that horrible irritanting increasing noice be?
    And why did it just began when the police officers were there? Would it be the fear that they would find out? The fear of not knowing what is going to happen?
    Could it be guilt?
    At the end, he told them he killed the old man, but, why? Did he think that by telling them what he did that same night, killing the man that lived there, would make the horrendous disturbing sound in his head stop?
    It could be, that he knew why and what that sound was, but didn't wanted to accept it, making him -NOT MAD!- just nervous. Loosing his mind.
    The sound of guilt. The sound of fear. Or maybe... The sound of..madness?
    Could it be that? Maybe the sound of realizing he was never "just" nervous, that he actually WAS mad, that he indeed was this whole time not what he wanted; what he maybe needed.
    He just couldn't stand the fact of being different, of being MAD.
    But... Who would?

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  5. Szabolcs Sorban (post 4)
    What sound does the narrator hear after the murder? In reality, what could it be? After the murder the narrator hears a sound but he isnt sure if the other people also hear the sound. As time goes on the narrator hears the sound louder and louder. But he doesnt know what it is. Later he finds out that the sound was the beating of het old mans hart. he has several toughts about what the sound could be. it probably was real because he started hearing it louder and louder. There was an old man who the narrator murdered earlier. if the narrator wouldnt have murdered the old man the narrator would not have heard the sound. Maybe is was because the narrator got flashbacks to when he murdered the old man. So the reason he hears the sound is because the narrator is nervous, and maybe gets flashbacks

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  6. Cem Hellings
    I think the sound that the narrator hears isn’t a real sound, but a sound in his/her head. Here is why: When the narrator first heard the sound, he was in the living room with some officers. And they didn’t hear the sound. At least, the story didn’t mention that. So, what could the sound be? I think the sound is the feeling of fear, guilt and panic. The sound started after the narrator killed the old man. The old man was just a innocent man. The narrator killed him because of the old man’s eye. And because the narrator was so nice to the old man that last week, they became sort of friends and so the narrator feld guilty. Then, because a neighbour had heared a shriek, a bunch of officers came to the house. They searched the house but they found nothing, after that they stayed in the living room to hang around. But the old man’s body is still present in the house. And the narrator knew, if the officers stay longer, they find the body. So there came the feelings of fear and panic, which made the sound in his/her head louder and louder. Until he/she couldn’t hold it anymore. And told the police what he/she did. So, the sound is the fear, the guilt and panic that took over in him.

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  7. this is hugo's blog


    Blog 4, Edgar Allan Poe’s Tell Tale Heart. In Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart Many references are made to the heart and to the eyes. These organs are significant in the story, because if the old man’s evil eye had never been mentioned, then the story would’ve been completely different. There is a saying that the eyes are the gateway to the soul, and it is said that the old man has a vulture’s eye, or evil eye. It is also said that the man has many riches, so does it mean that he gained these riches because he was “A vulture” who was feeding off other’s losses? It would be very fitting that the main character killed the man because he thought the man was “A vulture.” If the main character had explained more about the man I’m sure this would’ve been clarified. So, When you see references to the eyes and heart in literature, remember how not knowing could change a story entirely.

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  8. What could’ve possibly been meant by the title ‘the tell-tale heart’? I think that this refers to the ‘heart’ of the old man. In this case, it ‘tells’ the story. The narrator desires the old man’s ‘eye’. So, he decides to kill him. But first, he acted unbelievably kind to the old man for 7 days. The first time that the heart beating is mentioned in the story is the eighth night. Here the heart tells the story of the old man’s fear when the narrator not so silently enters the house. The next time the heart is mentioned, the old man is dead. The protagonist cuts off the old man’s limbs because he hears the heartbeat again. Better be safe than sorry. If you kill someone, the heart stops beating. That is common sense. The narrator’s common sense was erased from his mind when his other senses sharpened. In this case, the heart beating is showcasing the narrator’s guilt for killing the man. So, in conclusion, the title refers to the heart of the old man.
    -elisa okur

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  9. ~Christi Ligeon
    The relationship of the narrator and the old man is never made clear in the story The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe, I however think that the narrator was some sort of nurse/ care taker of the man. I also think that the vulture eye wasn’t real, but was something the narrator saw whilst he was using drugs. In the first paragraph of the story the narrator was speaking about “the disease” that had sharpened all his senses, which could be interpretated as a drug addiction feeling like a disease, since there was no stop to it. This is because when he murdered the man, the police arrived shortly after, and I think that if the man would have such an eye, the police would immediately ask something like: do you know where the man with the special looking eye is? Or anything like that. The man is also described as old, which would indicate that he could be under care or a grandfather. But if he were to be the grandfather I think it would be mentioned. So to come back to my original statement, I think that the old man was under care of the narrator and that if he was sober or clean, he would see that the mans eye was just an illusion.

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  10. Rosalie Koole

    In my opinion, the man was bothered by his vulture eye, feeling that he was being watched all the time. Why did the man want to kill the
    elder? Would he have killed him if his eye wasn't bothering him? The story states,"…I think it was his eye, whenever it fell upon me, my
    blood ran cold." This could indicate that the man was feeling so watched by the eye, that he felt uneasy whenever it was in his line
    of sight. The man could have been working for the other man, or he
    could have been a relative or a long-term friend. In all cases, he was
    around the eye so much it bothered him to an extreme extend. He got so paranoid that he wanted the eye gone, whatever it takes.
    People make bad decisions in a state of paranoia. To link back to the
    story, I think the man was so out of his mind for thinking he was being watched 24/7. So he did the only thing that came to mind:
    killing the older man.

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  11. James Edwards
    Blog no.4 question 4
    Story: the tell-tale heart by Edgar Allan Poe

    I think the narrator would still have killed the old man even if he didn’t have the eye of a vulture, because in the beginning of the story the narrator says that he thinks it was the old man’s eye that made him want to kill him this means that he isn’t entirely sure about it after that he does says with certainty that it was however that moment of doubt shows that he might be lying to us and himself. He then starts to tell his story like he already knew for sure it was the vulture’s eye that made him want to kill the old man, whilst he in the beginning of the story shows that he isn’t totally sure, which makes it look like a lie even more. That’s why I think that even if the old man didn’t have the vulture’s eye, the narrator would just have come up with a different reason to murder him.

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  12. Thijmen Romeijn
    In the story the Tell Tale heart the protagonist murders a old man and after which he hears a sound which get’s louder and louder. The protagonist thinks it is the heart of the victim, but that isn’t possible, so what can it be let’s find out. As stated in the text the protagonist hears a sound which get’s louder and louder. As stated the protagonist is probably a bit crazy and probably thinks he hears the sound, but in reality it doesn’t exist. So if he is crazy, he will probably imagine the sound. Having said that it is pretty logical that what he heard was his imagination and probably also a bit of guilt, because he admits he killed him. So the protagonist probably imagined the sound, because he is probably crazy and that’s why he turned himself in to the cops when they were at his house.

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  13. Hidde Aarsbergen, CV3tb

    After the narrator killed the old man and the officers came into the narrator’s house. While the officers were talking the man started hearing a ringing noise. It came closer and closer. At a certain point he had the feeling that the noise was right between his ears. What could the sound be and where does it come from? The officers could not hear it, so I think it was a sound of realization. He has been through so much in the past hour that he probably goes crazy. But I think it also is a sign from his brain or soul. Because if you murder someone, you will be very shocked about yourself. Most people have instant regret, but this guy probably got the realization when he was in the middle of the conversation with the cops. So, I think the sound was a sound of fear, shock and anger all in one.

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  14. Elwin de Kok
    The narrator hears a heart beating after the murder, I think this is his own heartbeat he hears. It gets louder and louder because the sound of his own heartbeat is making him more nervous and stressed. when the police came inside he started to feel guilty. they sat down and he began hearing the heartbeat. because of this sound, he gets nervous. if you get nervous, your heartbeats get higher. he gets more nervous and more nervous. that’s why the sounds he hears gets louder and louder. and that is also the reason that the officer can not hear the sounds as he does. To at it all up. he hears his own heartbeat because he starting to feel guilty over what he did to the man. Because he gets nervous about this sound his heartbeat rases faster and faster wich makes the sound he hears in his head go louder and louder.

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  15. Thijs van Wijngaarden,

    I think that the narrator of the story would not have killed the old man if he didn't have an evil eye. You can notice this by looking at this particular bit of the story: I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it.' This particular bit of the story refers to the narrator getting the thought to kill the old man. He hated the eye, and it made him mad. Later in the story, he was stalking the old man in the night and was still going on about the man's eye. So because of the hatred of the old man's eye, the narrator wanted to kill him. If the old man did not have this evil eye, he would have still been alive, and the narrator wouldn't have been arrested.

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  16. Carsten van der Kleij15 October 2021 at 22:47

    Carsten van der Kleij

    I think that if the man didn’t have an “evil eye,” the narrator wouldn’t have killed him. I believe this because in Edgar Allen Poe’s story, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” it wasn’t the old man who was the problem but rather his “evil eye.” In the following quote, “I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me an insult. For his gold I had no desire,” it clearly states that the old man didn’t bother the narrator because he was always kind. Instead, it was the old man’s “evil eye” who bothered the narrator because, in this quote, it says, “I think it was his eye! Yes. It was this! He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so, by degrees --very gradually --I made up my mind to take the life of the old man and thus rid myself of the eye forever.” Therefore, I think that if the narrator isn’t disturbed by the man’s “evil eye,” he won’t kill him. Thus, I believe that the old man’s “evil eye” caused his death.

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  17. Xanthe Hough

    The title, "The Tell-Tale Heart", refers to the closing part of the story, when the narrator hears a faint ringing in his ears. In my opinion, the author is basing the protagonist on himself. For example, he states, "The disease had sharpened my sense --not destroyed --not dulled them." The writer is addressing the drug addiction that he suffers from. Throughout the story, the author tells us a story about "a vulture eye" and how it watched him constantly. The protagonist thinks that if he kills the man, the evil eye will go away. We become aware of the violent murder of an old man and how the protagonist hid the corpse. The protagonist experiences relief when he no longer feels watched and becomes confident that nobody will find the body. As the story continues, three policemen query the main character. Initially, he is at ease, but he gradually becomes more and more anxious. Eventually, the protagonist admits to killing the man after hearing a faint ringing that slowly evolved into a heartbeat. I think that the heartbeat he hears is fake and a hallucination caused by his drug use. Therefore, the title, “The Tell-Tale Heart” is suggesting that the heart he is hearing is not real.

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  18. After the narrator murders the man he hears a continual ringing. This I believe is the narrators heart and it symbolizes the enormous feeling of guilt that he has. He thinks that the heartbeat is from the old man he slayed, and had hid under the flooring. As the narrator welcomed the officers into the house, he began to notice a ringing in his ears. While he sat there and chatted, the ringing became more distinct. “I found that the noise was not within my ears.” To stop this ringing the narrator felt that by talking more fluently, and with a heightened voice this sound would disappear. Yet it only increased. He got sick of it and could bear it no longer. If the man’s heart had stopped beating I would not have to admit the deed, but “Villains!” He shrieked. “Dissemble no more! I admit the deed tear up the planks! - here, here – it is the beating of his heart!” While talking to the officers a feeling of guilt arose that he had not anticipated. He thought that the ringing in his ears was the heartbeat of the man which he had murdered, and could not figure out if the officers were able to hear it as well. So the narrator started talking louder to get on top of the noise. Only the more he talked the stronger it got. The sound that he assumes he is hearing is nothing but his feeling of guilt that expresses itself in the increasingly louder beating of his heart, which no one else could hear.

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  19. Hello, my name is Jesse van Vugt
    Blog post #4
    What sound does the narrator hear after the murder? In reality what could it be? Why does it get louder, and louder? What the narrator thinks he/she is hearing is the heartbeat of the old man, getting louder and louder. Realisticly though, it is not possible for the old man tob e alive. So I think he heard the sound because of guilt or regret. The narrator wasn’t sure other people could hear the sound as well, policemen came over to the appartement and it turned out they couldn’t hear this sound like the narrator. which means that it was a personal feeling of the narrator. He searched around the house for what it could be but found nothing. The old man’s body was still present in the appartement. And he knew the officers would eventually find it. in a feeling of panic, the sound got louder and louder. He couldn’t hold it anymore and told the officers. The sound he heard was the guilt and panic that took him over.

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