COLLECTIONS 3 THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM 11A NOV 24.docx -...

Collections Grade 11 Guiding Questions
Collection 3
“The Pit and the Pendulum” by Edgar Allan Poe
Read the short story “The Pit and the Pendulum” by Edgar Allan Poe. Then, reread the lines
indicated with each question below. Answer each question, citing text evidence.
1. Lines 8–11: What is happening in the first four lines of the story? Describe the
dramatic tension this opening creates.
2. Lines 8–13: Describe the narrator’s state of consciousness and how it changes.
3. Lines 15–23: What creates an atmosphere of horror in these lines? Give examples
from the text.
4. Lines 42–54: Based on these lines, what might be a theme of the story? 5. Lines 93–103: What effect does withholding further details about the narrator’s
situation have on the reader? What new details about the narrator’s situation are
revealed in lines 93–100? Why might Poe have wanted to delay telling readers what
the narrator’s surroundings look like? Notice the phrase “my worst thoughts” in line
101. To what fear does this phrase refer? Which phrases in lines 102–103 contribute
to Gothic themes?