Question

name: class: date: the tell-tale heart multiple choice identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. comprehension read each of the following questions. then choose the letter of the best answer. 1. what does the narrator say that his disease has done to him? a made him nervous b sharpened his senses c turned him into a murderer d caused him to lie 2. the narrator waits a week before killing the old man because the narrator a says that he must see the old mans eyes first. b likes frightening the old man many times. c waits for the darkest night of the week. d feels guilty about taking a human life. 3. you can evaluate the narrators state of mind as unreliable when he a explains that he did not kill the old man for his money. b describes his movements on the night of the murder. c says he is sane, but then describes how cleverly he hid the body. d confesses that he is nervous in the beginning of the story. 4. the author creates suspense by a revealing the ways in which the narrator is kind to the old man. b explaining why the narrator hid the body after the murder. c saying that the narrator loved the old man. d describing what the narrator did before the murder. 5. why is the narrator upset with the police at the end of the story? a the police find the old mans body. b the police accuse him of murder. c he thinks the police are making fun of him. d he thinks the police are trying to kill him. vocabulary choose the answer that best explains the meaning of each underlined word. 6. to conceive of something is to a think of it b tell about it c dream about it d talk with it

Explanation:

1. In "The Tell - Tale Heart", the narrator is paranoid and his disease has made him more nervous.
2. The narrator waits a week as he is fixated on the old man's eye and wants to choose the right moment (the darkest night) to act.
3. The narrator's contradictory statements (saying he is sane but describing his clever hiding of the body in a nervous way) show his unreliable state of mind.
4. Describing the narrator's actions before the murder (like his stealthy movements) builds suspense.
5. The narrator's guilt makes him imagine the police are mocking him (he hears the "heartbeat" which is his own guilt manifested).
6. "To conceive of something" means to think of it.

Answer:

1. A
2. C
3. C
4. D
5. C
6. A