The Tell-tale Heart Comprehension Worksheet
A Grade 6 ELA worksheet focusing on comprehension and literary analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Tell-tale Heart'.
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The Tell-tale Heart Comprehension Worksheet
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Read the excerpt from Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Tell-tale Heart' carefully, then answer the questions that follow.
True!—nervous—very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses—not destroyed—not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily—how calmly I can tell you the whole story. It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. 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.
1. What is the narrator's main argument in the first paragraph?
That he is nervous, but not mad.
That he is both nervous and mad.
That his disease has dulled his senses.
That he is healthy and calm.
2. What part of the old man does the narrator dislike the most?
His voice
His money
His eye
His old age
3. The narrator claims that his disease has his senses, not destroyed or dulled them.
4. The narrator describes the old man's eye as the eye of a , with a pale blue color and a film over it.
5. Why does the narrator decide to kill the old man, even though he claims to love him and has no desire for his gold?
6. The narrator believes his sharpened senses are proof that he is not mad.
True
False