Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Period 3 "Tell Tale Heart"

How does the tone of this story contribute to the theme?  Use your list of tone words to help you label the tone.  Be sure to identify the theme and use two quotes from the story to support.

22 comments:

  1. The tone of this story is dark and a bit insane. For example, Poe writes,"You fancy me mad", then proceeds to explain how he isn't crazy even though he clearly is. The story is also dark because Poe discusses how a man's eye makes him uncomfortable and angry. It disturbs him so much that he goes on a mission to kill the man, even though he loves him and doesn't have anything against him. Poe writes about the eye,"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". This line shows the mental instability and dark thoughts of his mind. These motives and thoughts continue throughout the story and end with the murder of the old man and the mental breakdown of Poe.
    Gabby White

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  2. The theme of 'Tell Tale Heart' was proving something. The story starts off with the narrator trying to prove to us that he's not insane, but as he tells the story, inadvertently, he proves that he IS indeed insane. This relates to the anxiety-tone of this story as he is quick to try to prove himself sane without really even taking care to what exactly he was saying. The tone is anxiety because the narrator got anxiety from the old man's eye as he thought it weird and 'off', and especially at the end when he thought he heard the old man's heart beating so he A) killed him and then B) gave himself up to the cops because he thought he still heard the heartbeat and thought it was all over. The narrator was nervous in the story, shown in the first line when he says, "TRUE!--nervous--very, very dreadfully nervous...." Also, at the end when he starts freaking out with the officers in his home when he, "talked more quickly--more vehemently..." a clear sign of nervousness and anxiety.
    Megan Glynn Period 3

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  3. The tone of "Tell Tale Heart" is very somber and suspenseful. You're not really sure as to what will happen next and going through and reading it makes you feel sort of tense, saying "Ha! would a madman have been so wise as this, And then, when my head was well in the room, I undid the lantern cautiously-oh, so cautiously --cautiously (for the hinges creaked)". This makes the reader not sure as to what would be going on in the next sentences and paragraphs. The almost sadness and somber tones lead the theme of guilt. The theme shows how guilt can over come a person and lead them to almost being crazy and admitting to their wrong doing, ""Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! here, here!"

    Emma Salvatore

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  4. The Tell Tale Heart is a sad story that had a remorseful tone about it.He is explaining how he had killed the old man that he had loved in order to free him of his evil eye. This evil eye drove him to murder but he claims that he is not mad. he claims, "It is impossible to say how first idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night." He is insane though he thinks otherwise. The guilt of murdering the old man has creeped in and now he is paying the price. He "no doubt now grew very pale; -- but i talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice." He is arguing with the voices in his head. He has finally lost his mine and is going into a deranged mental state.
    -Alec Janis

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  5. The Tell-Tale heart is a dark, creepy story, about a clearly insane man murdering someone that he says he loves, "I loved the old man. He had never wronged me." His sole motivation for killing him was his vulture eye. And as if the fact that he had killed someone based on their eye being weird isn't enough to make us think he is mad, he continues to repeatedly, nervously tell us that he's sane. "Hearken! and observe how healthily --how calmly I can tell you the whole story." He is trying to convince us of his sanity. However, he cannot control himself. At the end of the story, when the narrator tells us that he ripped the dead man's beating heart out from under the floorboards, his narrations become more excited and nervous. he finally loses his temper. At this point, you can see his true insanity.
    Jess L. Period 6

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  6. The Tell Tale Heart has a sadistic tone where an insane narrator murders a man he loves just because of his eye. Throughout the story the unknown narrator tries to convince the audience that he or she is sane while describing the gruesome details of the murder, "First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs." In the end his act of evil leads to a underlying tone of guilt and remorse as he can "hear" the sound of the man's heart beating under the floor boards, "My head ached, and I fancied a ringing in my ears: but still they sat and still chatted." Toward the end his guilt over powers him and he admits the deed allowing the officers in his home to see his malicious acts.
    Hannah Beatty pd.6

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  7. The Tell Tale Heart is a very twisted and dark story. The narrator starts by trying to convince the reader of his sanity. He says "I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then, am I mad". But as the story proceeds, the reader realizes how crazy he actually is as he describes the event of killing a man. He goes into detail about how he didn't hate the man, and how well he cleaned up the crime scene. His insanity is very clear as he says, "He shrieked once, once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done." In the end he admits to to the crime, but that doesn't change my opinion of his sanity.
    Claire Paterson
    Class 3

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  8. The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe is a mysterious, suspenseful and twisted short story. The narrator convinces himself of his own sanity, but it is clear by his malicious deeds that he is insane. The narrator was a evil and twisted man, for he did not have hatred toward the old man, but only his 'vulture eyes." He creepily and stealthily spied on the old man for 7 nights, but his desire to kill could not proceed because the aged man's eyes were closed. " I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye." The eyes seem to have great power over the narrator because he expressed that it, " chilled the very marrow in my bones.." The narrator despised the old man's eyes so much that he killed the old man in his chamber. He then cautiously hid the dead body, left not signs of blood stains or the horror of death in the chamber so that the police could not suspect his mischievous act. The narrator's guilt gave him away, as the voice inside his head expressed, "They heard! --they suspected! --they knew! --they were making a mockery of my horror!" At the end of the story, the narrator heard a ringing of his own heart, growing louder and louder until he could no longer withstand the terrible guilt, thus he confessed his crime to the police officers.
    Reitsuma Panta
    Period 3

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  9. To begin with, this story was crazy, very crazy. Even though crazy is a broad word, it fits well with this story. I found the author very secretive and in a way he was amused by this spying he does every night. He seems confident the he will never be found. He is so absolutely sure that nobody will never be able find his deeds. Yet, on the other hand he’s very nervous and panics a lot. He shows that he’s confident and he himself brings down his confidence level. He feels pity and sorrow towards the old guy but then he’s ready to kill the old guy any moment. In a way this character/ author is seeking for attention. He constantly calls for the reader and make sure they understand the story from his perspective. “The old man’s terror must have been extreme! It grew louder, I say, louder every moment! –do you mark me well I have told you I am nervous: so I am.” (Also, his tones change constantly.)
    This story was solely this one character. This was a fight within himself. Nobody said he was the killer but he himself claimed for the murder. “‘Villains!’ I shrieked, ‘dissemble no more! I admit the deed! –tear up the plank! here, here! –It is the beating of his hideous heart.” He couldn’t keep the secret in him anymore. He thought someone was always watching over him. He seemed to be worried about something else as well. … Overall this story was little gloomy but very descriptive.
    ~Shilpa R Period 3

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  10. The Tell Tale Heart is a very dark piece of literature written by Edgar Allen Poe. The story revolves around an unnamed narrator who claims he is not crazy from the very beginning, "... but why will you say that I am mad", claimed the narrator, "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 clear that this man, or woman, is suffering from a severe psychological disorder by the way he points out he is not insane before we would even know why. This story is written in a nervous/frantic tone portrayed by the narrator. This nervousness directly corresponds with the theme of the story which is that the human heart has a tough time dealing with guilt. After the narrator killed the old man because of his "vulture eye", he was speaking with the cops when began to hear the sounds of a heart beating. To himself the narrator said "They heard! – they suspected! – they knew! – they were making a mockery of my horror!" The narrator felt the guilt building up inside of him and finally confessed to the murder.
    Kevin C.
    Period 3

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  11. As with many of Edgar Allan Poe’s writings, “The Tell Tale Heart” is dark, twisted, suspenseful and leaves you feeling anxious at the denouement. In this particular tale, the narrator fancies himself sane, although it is quite obvious to the reader, that he is in fact, really not. No mentally-stable individual would think - let alone fulfill the act- of murdering someone based on a physical imperfection (ie: the white film on the eye of the old man), especially if this individual has done absolutely nothing wrong to you. The narrator says, “I loved the old man. He had never wronged me,” and this, to me, is what makes this narrator seem even more deranged. This short story tells of the effects a guilty conscience can have on someone. For example, for the narrator, he felt his guilt through the heartbeat of the deceased old man. The individual convinced himself he was hearing the old man’s heart, when really there was no sound at all; it was all a manufactured noise in his head driven by a guilty conscience. In the end the heartbeat proves too much for the narrator. He says, "They heard! – they suspected! – they knew! – they were making a mockery of my horror,” and with this, he promptly turns himself in.
    I find it interesting that the majority of Poe’s writings are dark, and quite intense. It really makes me wonder what his life was like at that time, and how it was generally accepted among the people reading it.

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  12. The short story, A Tell Tale Heart, has a very disturbed and anxious tone throughout the story. The title of the story accents what I think ultimately drives the narrator to his insanity, the sound of the old man's heartbeat. The murderer is so overcome by guilt that he hears the old man's heartbeat growing louder and believes the police hear it too. He becomes so anxious, he needs to tell the truth in order to set things right. Although he tries to convince the reader otherwise, I believe he was mad.

    Eleanor Hall
    Period 3

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  13. The tone of A Tell Tale Heart is sort of drawn out and all over the place in a way. It is dark and psychopathic, almost. In the text it says, "Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror." The way Poe writes, it's as if the worst and most awful thing in the world is happening. He makes the atmosphere of the story extremely dark, which makes the reader feel the suspense and wonder what's going to happen next. It puts the reader on edge, but in the best way possible.
    Jennifer G.
    Period 3

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  14. "A Tell Tale Heart" is a dark piece of literature by the great Edgar Allen Poe. Our narrator is a murderer who is clearly insane that murders an old man. Through the course of this story, he begins to feel more and more guilt for his acts. The heartbeat of this dead man constantly irritates the narrator and drives him deeper into insanity, "They heard! – they suspected! – they knew! – they were making a mockery of my horror." This lone heartbeat is enough to drive this man to turn himself in. This story says a lot about human nature and our desire for a clean conscience. The man could have simply lived on with this murder, but instead he drives himself insane. Our minds play tricks on us and this story shows how our minds can lead us to our desires.
    Jared P Period 3

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  15. This is a story of a man that lives with an elderly man. The elderly man is a man that lives a peaceful life and does not ever seem to cause the narrator any harm. Any harm other than having a vulture eye that is. Our narrator can not stand the sight of this vulture eye, so much so that he decides to kill the old man. He waits seven nights, hesitant to commit the deed, but on the eighth night, the old man is slain. Through all this, the narrator claims for his sanity, disregarding the fact that he is mad. He thinks that what he is doing is justified, and that he can claim for his sanity because he has done nothing to prove that he is mad. Then when the police come to investigate, he hears the heart start beating. The old man's heart drives him to a point where he screams and tells the police where the body is. Yet he claims he is not mad. He is simply a man who had no other way to escape the wretched eye.
    Mike B. Per 3

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  16. In the story "A Tell Tale Heart" the main character decides to commit the horrible crime of murder on an innocent old man because of his vulture like eye. The main character states,"I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus ride myself of the eye forever." He proceeds with this his plan and finally murders the old man after waiting several nights making the tone of this short story horrific and very psychotic. Poe wrote this as a dark and horror piece of work and he succeeded at doing that. To further make the tone sound psychotic poe made the murderer try and convince the reader that he was not a madman. He wrote, "Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisley i proceeded, with what caution." By saying this he sounded like even more of a madman making the story very horrific.
    Elena M. Period 3

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  17. The tone of the story is very dismal, and sullen. Regardless of the tone, the actual plot of the story itself is quite horrific and circulates around the idea of a man who believes he is not crazy, all the while planning to kill another older man because he doesn't like the old mans eye. The theme resonated around the idea that this young man continuously tells himself that he isn't crazy, incessantly denying something that no one except himself ever accused him of. I believe that if you spend your time trying to convince yourself out of something, especially something that no one has even suspected you of, it is because you are sunken in guilt and probably regret as well. The cops didn't even suspect him of anything, but he shot himself in the foot because his guilt turned into insanity when he began hearing a "heartbeat" and, in the end, he finally exploded.
    Cara Broughal
    Period 3

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  18. I would describe the tone of the story "The Tell-Tale Heart" as gloomy and morose. The story describes an unknown narrator who describes his desires to kill his elderly neighbor because of his vulture eye. The eye drives him mad and he plots his murder meticulously. The narrator is clearly psychologically impaired because he doesn't hate the man or harbor any anger for him but is obsessed with killing him. The revolving theme of the story is guilt because even after he goes through with the murder the narrator claims to hear the still beating heart of the old man. His guilt drives him to turn himself in to the authorities. To quote the story,"tear up the planks! here, here! --It is the beating of his hideous heart!" This theme of guilt contributes to the stories tones of gloom and morose because the story overall is very dark and sad and the guilt that the man harbors is inevitable because he wants to free himself from all the madness.A quote that represents guilt is," I talked more freely to get rid of the feeling: but it continued and gained definiteness --until, at length, I found that the noise was not within my ears." The noise referring to the beating heart of the deceased old man.
    Justin Campos
    Period 3

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  19. The theme of the story is remorseful and dark. Edgar Allen Poe's writing of, The Tell Tale Heart," is an exact example of guilt and how powerful it can be. An example of his regret is when he stated, "They heard! – they suspected! – they knew! – they were making a mockery of my horror.” And almost directly following his exclamation he turns himself in. Some how the lead of the story believes he is normal and is influenced by sane insite although its obvious he is very troubled. Poe describes the mans obscured thoughts when he mentions, "It is impossible to say how first idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night." This quote proves that narrator has little control over his actions and mindset even though he believes contrary.

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  20. A Tell Tale Heart has a cynical tone. It was about a man who kills someone he claims he "loves". "I loved the old man! He had never wronged me! He had never given me and insult!" The narrator also denies any motive for the murder. He states, "object there was none." This story by edgar allen poe represents darkness and betrayal.
    Michaela S
    period 3

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  21. I think that this story is a battle of a man's consciousness, he is clearly not mentally right, but the whole time he is trying to prove that he is not mad. The story is about the man killing the old man that lived with him because of his vulture eye. I think that this eye could represent a personal flaw or what you may call a "pet peeve" It truly aggrevated him, and he killed him for it with almost no remorse. I think this just showed the man's inner conflicts, and how truly mad he was, yet still being able to keep in complete control of his actions
    Mike B per 3

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