The Tell-Tale Heart
Directions: Our first class discussion Our first discussion of this semester concerns Edgar Allan Poe’s famous “The Tell-Tale Heart.” You can find the link to this story at the link below. First, however, please watch this four minute biography on YouTube: (Links to an external site.) Second, please read the story at the link below: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/POE/telltale.html (Links to an external site.) If you have trouble accessing that website, try this alternate link: (Links to an external site.) After reading the story and reflecting on the two main characters, address the following question: Does the narrator of the story have a conscience? (For that matter, what is a conscience–how do we define it? What does it mean to have one?) Be sure to give examples from the text to support your view. Consider, for example, how remorseless he seems to be when he describes how carefully he covers up the crime scene–but on the other hand, what drives him to do what he does during the last moment of the story? (This sentence is worded vaguely to prevent spoilers.)
