"The Black Cat"
Why did people make fun of the narrator when he was younger? - ✔✔He was sensitive and
tender hearted.
What was the narrator's name? - ✔✔We are not told this information.
What is the first black cat's
...
"The Black Cat"
Why did people make fun of the narrator when he was younger? - ✔✔He was sensitive and
tender hearted.
What was the narrator's name? - ✔✔We are not told this information.
What is the first black cat's name? - ✔✔Pluto
What is the allusion connected with the first black cat's name? - ✔✔This was the Roman god of
the underworld.
What does the narrator first do to the black cat after he comes home drunk one night? - ✔✔He
cuts the cat's eye out after the cat bites him.
How does our narrator change from how he was when we was younger? - ✔✔He begins to drink.
He is mean to his wife and animals.
What are some hints that Poe's gives us that our narrator is in jail and will be executed? - ✔✔He
says he will die tomorrow in the first paragraph. He says he is in a felon's cell. He says the cat
sent him to the hangman.
What do Pluto and the new cat have in common? - ✔✔They are black. They are missing an eye.
How does the narrator kill Pluto? - ✔✔He hangs him from a tree in the garden.
What happens on the same night that the narrator kills Pluto? - ✔✔His house burns.
What does the new cat have on his chest? - ✔✔He has a white splotch that is shaped like a
hangman's noose.
What does anomalous mean? - ✔✔abnormal
What is a conflagration? - ✔✔a large fire
What does felicity mean? - ✔✔happiness
How does the narrator kill his wife? - ✔✔He drives an axe in her head.
Why does the narrator kill his wife? - ✔✔The cat trips him, and he gets mad. He turns and in a
fit of passion kills his wife.
Who does the narrator want to kill instead of his wife? - ✔✔The black cat
Why does the narrator originally not kill the black cat? - ✔✔He is ashamed of what he did to
Pluto. He dreads the cat.
How does the new black cat act with the narrator? - ✔✔He follows him everywhere. He is there
all the time--even when the narrator is sleeping.
Where does the new black cat come from in the story? - ✔✔The cat follows the narrator home
from a tavern one night. He was sitting on top of a hogshead.
What is a hogshead? - ✔✔a barrell
What is on the one wall that did not burn of the house? - ✔✔An imprint of a cat with a noose
around its neck
What is an example of foreshadowing in the story? - ✔✔The white splotch that looks like the
gallows--hints that death will find our narrator
What does the narrator do with the body of his wife? - ✔✔Puts her in the wall of the cellar
How does the narrator get caught in his crime? - ✔✔He hits the wall with his cane, and the cat
lets out a horrible sounding scream.
How old was Poe when he died? - ✔✔40
What is a plot twist? - ✔✔a sudden, unexpected change in a story
What is an allusion? - ✔✔a reference that the author expects you to know
What is a simile? - ✔✔a comparison using like or as
Who does Poe marry? - ✔✔Virginia, his first cousin
What is prose? - ✔✔Writing in everyday language; written in paragraphs
What is personification? - ✔✔Giving nonhuman things human characteristics
What is a metaphor? - ✔✔A comparison not using like or as
What is characterization? - ✔✔methods used by a writer to introduce or describe characters to
readers
What is foreshadowing? - ✔✔hints given that tell readers what may happen in the story
What is a speaker? - ✔✔the narrator of a poem
What does intemperance mean? - ✔✔excesive consumption of alcohol
Does our narrator feel guilty for killing his wife? - ✔✔No
Does our narrator feel guilty for killing Pluto? - ✔✔Yes
Why does the narrator kill Pluto? - ✔✔Pluto loved him. He knew it was wrong. He knew it was
a sin. Pluto did not give him a reason to do it.
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