To help you with these questions, find an unabridged copy of the story in a book or go to this website. You may use all the notes you've taken on short stories and on Poe to answer these questions.

1. Is this story told in first person, second person, or third person point of view? How can you tell?

2. Is the conflict in this story external or internal? Could it be both? Give evidence from the story to support your answer. 

3. As the story opens, what is the relationship like between the old man and the narrator? For extra points, find and copy the sentence or sentences that reveal that relationship.

4. Why does the narrator commit his crime? For extra points, find and copy the sentence or sentences in which the narrator reveals his reason.

5. Why does he wait 8 days to commit his crime? For extra points, find and copy the sentence or sentences in which the narrator explains his reason.

6. What do you think the narrator is really hearing at the end of the story? What makes you think so?

7. Explain the difference between an author and a narrator in fiction.

8. In your own words, explain how the term "deathwatches" is used to create three different meanings or images in the story.

9.. Is Poe's narrator an example of a reliable or an unreliable narrator? Give evidence from the story to prove your point.

EXTRA CREDIT: What is the Imp of the Perverse, and how to do you see it used in the Tell-Tale Heart?