Tales of Mystery and Imagination

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1 Edgar Allan Poe About the author Edgar Allan Poe was born to a Scots-Irish family in Boston on 19 January He was the second child of actress Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and actor David Poe, Jr. Tragedy struck Edgar Allan Poe very early in life his father abandoned the family when he was just one year old and his mother died of consumption a year later. Poe was raised by John and Frances Allan, a family of Scottish merchants from Richmond, Virginia. Although they never formally adopted him, the Allans did give him the name Edgar Allan Poe. Poe attended school in England from 1815 until In 1826 he went to the recently-opened University of Virginia. In 1835, he started work as an editor for the Southern Literary Messenger. The following year he married his cousin, Virginia. For the next ten years, during which time his wife was often ill, Poe worked for various newspapers and magazines. He also wrote the stories for which he is now famous, though he did not always make a lot of money from them. Also during this period, he began to drink heavily and for the rest of his life he had problems with alcohol. In 1847, Virginia died. Poe planned to remarry but it was not to be. He died in mysterious circumstances after being found wandering around the streets of Baltimore in October, Summary The ten tales are stories of the supernatural, of revenge, near-death experiences and some of the very first detective stories. In William Wilson a man is haunted in a strange and disturbing way. He is convinced that he has an identical namesake who has been following him everywhere since his schooldays. Wherever he goes, he cannot escape his unwanted double: he is always there to foil his plans and snatch success away from him. In the story s tragic conclusion the main character loses control and reacts in a terrible and violent manner. In The Gold-Bug we follow a man s obsessive search for buried treasure. After finding a bug of real gold, the man is convinced that it will lead him to the treasure and make his fortune. Despite the scepticism of his friend, the man persists with his search, uncovering clues and breaking a secret code until finally, with the help of his servant and of his friend; he sets off on a journey into the hills that ultimately leads them to an amazing discovery. The Fall of the House of Usher tells of some very strange happenings. A man goes to visit an old friend who appears to be suffering from some strange mental disorder. His sister is very ill and he has been very badly affected by this. He has lost his taste for life and is extremely afraid of the future. He feels strongly that the very walls of his old crumbling house have gained an influence over him. His friend tries to help him by talking to him and painting with him, but when the man s sister finally dies, things go from bad to worse. The man is not convinced that his sister is really dead and worries that he has buried her alive. The story reaches a dramatic climax when the dead sister reappears at the door of the house. The Red Death tells the story of how a group privileged people, led by their Prince shut themselves away in a remote castle in an attempt to avoid being infected with a terrible disease that is killing the population of the country They live a life of luxury and pleasure until one day the Red Death itself comes to pay a visit and wreak revenge The Barrel of Amontillado is another story of terrible revenge. A man lures his rival into a deep cellar with the promise of tasting an expensive Spanish wine. The victim s pride and his single-minded desire to give his opinion on the wine prevent him from seeing the trap he is walking into. Even at the last moment, as he is being walled into his death cell, he seems unable to fully comprehend the terrible nature of his predicament. The Whirlpool describes the very frightening near-death experience of an old Norwegian fisherman. As his listener observes the scene from a high point on the rocky coastline, the fisherman shows him the power of the enormous whirlpool of the Maelström just a few miles c Pearson Education Limited Teacher s notes of 5

2 off the coast. He tells the story of how he and his brother were once sucked into the whirlpool. The fisherman survived thanks to keen observation of how things were being sucked down towards the seabed, but his brother, through his terrible fear, was unwilling to heed his advice and perished. The fisherman survived, but his experience had turned him into a white-haired old man. In The Pit and the Pendulum a prisoner recounts his experiences at the hands of the Spanish Inquisition. He is thrown into a dark cell and soon realises there is a deep pit in the middle of the room from which there would be no escape. Having successfully avoided falling into the pit, he awakes to find himself tied to the bed beneath an enormous swinging pendulum at the end of which there is a sharp blade. As the blade slowly descends, coming evercloser to his chest, he begins to give up hope of survival. But suddenly an idea occurs to him that brings him new hope and he manages to avoid being sliced by the swinging knife by attracting rats to eat through his bonds. All his efforts seem to have been to no avail however when the walls of the cell begin to close in on him, forcing him towards the deep pit in the middle of the room In The Stolen Letter the Paris police look for a letter that holds great power. They know who has taken the letter, but despite two thorough searches of the man s home, they are unable to find it. And yet, the letter must be in the man s house. The police cannot find the letter because they are unable to put themselves in the place of the person who hid it. It turns out that the letter was right in front of their noses the whole time. It is ultimately found by Monsieur Dupin, a very intelligent and wily Parisian private detective, who presents the letter to the chief of police in return for a handsome reward. We find Monsieur Dupin at work again in The Murders in the Rue Morgue. Two women have been savagely murdered in their home in an apparently motiveless attack. Although the women had money in the house, nothing was stolen. Witnesses didn t see anything, but nearly all of them say they heard two voices from inside the women s apartment. One of the voices was that of a Frenchman, but the witnesses all give a different account of the second voice one says it was a Russian voice, another thinks it was an Italian voice, others say they heard English or German sounds Dupin doubts that the voice was human at all The story called Metzengerstein recounts the rivalry between two rich families and the descent into madness and death of the young heir to the Metzengerstein fortune. When his neighbour and head of his hated rival family dies in a fire, a beautiful but strange red horse comes into the young man s possession. The horse appears to have been branded with the initials of the dead neighbour, but nobody at the household can confirm that the horse belonged to the dead man. The young Metzengerstein becomes increasingly obsessed with the horse and begins to spend all his time riding it, avoiding the company of people. When a fire breaks out at his property, horse and rider gallop into the flames. Background and themes Death and its physical signs: Some of Poe s most recurring themes can be found in the stories presented here: death and its physical signs, the effects and nature of decomposition, concerns of premature burial, the coming back to life of the dead, and the process of mourning. Poe s stories are remarkable for their inventiveness, their fine construction, their vivid descriptions and their psychological insight. Since their first publication, Poe s powerful stories have captured the imagination of generations of readers. Many of the stories have been made into films or television dramas or they have been the source of inspiration for countless adaptations. Poe s fame nowadays rests more on his macabre tales of mystery and horror than on his poetry or literary essays. But he did not invent the horror story. Mystery, horror and violence: In Poe s youth, one of the most popular types of fiction was the gothic novel and his stories owe a lot to the gothic style. These novels typically dealt with mystery, horror, violence and the supernatural and the stories often took place in dramatic, romantic settings such as ruined castles. They were extremely popular at the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth. Perhaps the most famous example of the genre is Mary Shelley s Frankenstein (1818). Fictional detective: In the gothic elements of his stories, Poe was tapping into an existing tradition. However he can be credited with creating the world s first fictional detective in the figure of C Auguste Dupin. A number of aspects of Dupin s character (his methods of deduction, his slightly eccentric personality and his generally low opinion of the police force) have all served as a model for many if not most detective story writers ever since. c Pearson Education Limited Teacher s notes 2 of 5

3 The power of the imagination: One idea that obviously interested Poe is the power of the imagination and how it can possess or haunt a person. We see this theme developed in a number of stories, particularly William Wilson, The Fall of the House of Usher and Metzengerstein. Poe was also interested in analysing how a person (often a lonely figure) reacts in moments of extreme terror or despair facing death or torment. We see this in The Pit and the Pendulum, The Fall of the House of Usher and The Whirlpool. Poe examines the themes of revenge and punishment in The Barrel of Amontillado, The Red Death and Metzengerstein while in the detective stories his underlying theme is the power of deductive reasoning to solve a seemingly insurmountable problem. Discussion activities 1 Discuss: Give students the following list of different types of fiction and ask them to put them in the order of their own personal preference: horror stories stories of the supernatural mystery stories detective stories stories of suspense After a few minutes, put students into groups of four or five to compare and discuss their preferences. Encourage them to give their reasons and to cite examples of the types of stories they enjoy. William Wilson 2 Role play: Put the students into pairs. Tell each pair to think of some questions that they would like to ask William Wilson. After about ten minutes, get the students to form new pairs and to take it in turns to ask and answer each other s questions. Finally, ask some of the pairs to act out the conversation in front of the whole class. 3 Discuss: Working individually, give the students ten minutes to make a list of all the positive and negative qualities of William Wilson mentioned in the story. Then write the following questions on the board: Do you feel any sympathy for William Wilson? Why/Why not? Working individually for another five minutes or so, the students note down their answers. Then put the students into groups of four or five and ask them to exchange their views on the following question: Does William Wilson deserve our sympathy? Encourage the students always to give reasons for their answers. Finally, call on the groups to present their views to the rest of the class. 4 Debate: On page 1 we can read the narrator s opinion that Men usually grow evil by degrees. Working with the whole class, ask the students to write whether or not they agree with this statement and why (or why not). After a few minutes, ask individual students to read out their answers. Write the key points up on the board. Keep the discussion going for as long as the students interest remains high enough. The Gold-Bug 5 Discuss: Put the students into groups of three or four. Each student thinks of a real or imaginary story of buried treasure. They write down a few details of the story and then share the information with the other members of their group. Then the students choose one of the stories and recount it to the rest of the class. 6 Pair work: Ask the students to look at the coded message on page 21 and its translation on page 23. Make sure the students know the expression to break a code. Put the students into pairs and ask each pair to invent their own code using number and other symbols. After ten or fifteen minutes, get each pair to write a short message using their code and to swap messages with another pair. The pairs now try to break each other s codes. When they have finished, call on one of the pairs to come to the front of the class and explain how they managed to break the code. 7 Role play: Put the students in pairs. Tell them to imagine that Jupiter, the servant, has agreed to be interviewed by a popular newspaper. Ask the students to think of the questions that the journalist would want to ask him. You might need to prompt them by making a few suggestions such as How long have you been working for Mr Legrand? Did he tell you what you were looking for? Were you scared when you climbed the tree etc. After a few minutes, get the pairs to act out the interview. Invite one or two pairs to perform their interview in front of the whole class. 8 Role play: Put the students into groups of four. Tell them to imagine that they are to appear on a television programme in order to discuss the story The Gold-Bug as someone wants to make it into a film. Allocate the following roles: Student A is the television presenter and organiser of the debate he or she must keep order and remain impartial; Student B is the president of the Edgar Allen Poe fan club and thinks that the story is wonderful and will make an excellent film; Student C thinks that the story is terrible and finds fault with everything; Student D thinks the story is interesting but doesn t think it is realistic enough. Give the student ten minutes or so to prepare for their roles and then have each group discuss the story for at least a further ten minutes. It is Student A s job to make sure each of the participants speaks for their fair share of the time. c Pearson Education Limited Teacher s notes of 5

4 The Fall of the House of Usher 9 Discuss: Ask the students to think of a place they have been in which they felt anxious or afraid. If they can t think of a place, ask them to think about a film they have seen. Give them a few minutes to write down a few notes about the place and how it made them feel. Then put the students into groups of three or four and tell them to tell each other about their experiences. Each group chooses the scariest experience and one of them presents it to the rest of the class. 10 Pair work: On page 25, the narrator says Although, as boys, we had been the best of friends, I really knew little about Roderick Usher. Working individually, each student thinks of a friend they had when they were younger and that they haven t seen for a long time (if they are too young to have such a friend, they should invent one). They write down a few details describing the friend and prepare to recount one or two anecdotes about what they did together. After about ten minutes, put the students into pairs and tell them to ask and answer questions about each other s friend. 11 Role play: When Roderick Usher tells him how he feels that the house is a living creature, the narrator admits that I did not know what answer to make to my friend. Working in pairs, tell the students to imagine they are in the narrator s shoes what would they have said to Usher if he had said the same things to them? Give them a few minutes to prepare and then get one student from each pair to change places with a student from another pair. These new pairs now imagine a conversation between Usher and the narrator. After ten minutes the pairs practise the conversation. Finally, call upon some of the pairs to act out their dialogue in front of the whole class. 12 Discuss: Ask the students to write down one or two sentences describing their opinion of the story Did you find the story interesting / boring / difficult / complicated / obvious / etc? Why? After five or ten minutes, ask one of the students to read out one of their sentences. Then ask another student to react to their opinion. Keep the debate going around the class for as long as the students are interested. The Red Death 13 Draw: The story makes much of the effect that light and colour can have on the atmosphere of a room. Put the students into group of three and ask them to think about how they might redesign the classroom they are working in order to change the atmosphere (for the better). They should think of the colours and fabrics used for the walls, the curtains, the furniture, the decorations, etc. Give the students fifteen minutes to come up with their ideas and then ask each group to present their design to the rest of the class. Tell them they should be prepared to say why they think the changes would make the classroom better. 14 Discuss: Write the following question on the board: What would you have done if you were in Prince Prospero s shoes? Working individually for five minutes, the students write down their ideas. Then put the students into groups of four or five and have them discuss the question together for a further ten minutes they must decide whether they would have reacted in the same way as Prospero or not. Finally, call upon each of the groups to explain their decision to the rest of the class. 15 Write: Working individually or in pairs, the students imagine that they have received a letter from Prince Prospero asking them to join him inside his castle. They must decide whether or not to accept the invitation and to write a letter in reply to the prince to explain their decision. The Barrel of Amontillado 16 Role play: Put students in pairs and have them act out the dialogue between Montresor and Fortunato on pages They should start at My dear Fortunato and end at he cannot tell a Spanish from an Italian wine. Ask two or three of the pairs to act out the dialogue in front of the whole class. 17 Discuss: Write the following question on the board: What did Fortunato do to Montresor to make him hate him so much? With the students working individually, give them five minutes or so to jot down their ideas. Then put them into groups of four and tell them to exchange and compare their ideas. After a further ten minutes, invite each group to present their views to the whole class. 18 Pair work: Put the students in pairs and tell them to imagine the conversation that takes place between Montresor and Lady Fortunato later on the day of the murder. Lady Fortunato is worried about her husband as he has not returned home and she wonders if Montresor has any idea where he is. Go around the class while they are preparing and give help on vocabulary if necessary. Once they have written the dialogue, the students practice it out loud in pairs. Finally, ask some of the pairs to play out their dialogue in front of the whole class. 19 Debate: Is it ever justifiable to seek revenge? Divide the class into two equally-sized groups. Tell them that they are going to have a debate on the above question. Write the following statement on the board: This house believes that it is never justifiable to seek revenge. Regardless of their personal views, allocate to c Pearson Education Limited Teacher s notes of 5

5 one half of the class the role of arguing in favour of the statement, and to the other half, allocate the role of arguing against the statement. Give the groups enough time to prepare their arguments and to elect two spokespersons. Then proceed with the debate, with the two speakers in favour going first. At the end of the debate have the class vote on the question. The Whirlpool 20 Draw: Tell the students to re-read the description on pages 43 and 44 of the coastline of Lofoden and the two islands Put the students into pairs, and ask them to draw and label a simple map of the area, including the two islands. Call on volunteers to draw their map on the board and to present it orally to the rest of the class. Ask the rest of the class if they agree that the map is a good representation of the scene. 21 Discuss: Ask the students to think about the scariest journey they have ever made. It might be, as in the story, a journey made at sea, or it might be a journey by plane or on land. Give the student five of ten minutes to jot down a few details concerning the journey and then put them in groups of four or five and get them to tell each other their stories. Have each group decide which was the scariest journey and to recount it to the rest of the class. The Pit and the Pendulum 22 Role play: Put the students in pairs. Tell them to imagine they are television journalists. They are going to interview the prisoner after he escapes death at the end of the story. They can ask a maximum of eight questions. Tell the students to prepare a list of questions they would like to ask. After a few minutes, get the students to act out the interview with one member of each pair playing the journalist and the other playing the prisoner. Tell them to practice it a few times and then to switch roles. Finally ask different pairs to perform their interview in front of the whole class. The Stolen Letter 23 Discuss: Write the following question on the board: Have you ever looked everywhere for something only to find it right under your nose? Give the students five minutes to jot down their answers. Then put the students in groups of four and have them recount their anecdotes to each other. Call for volunteers from each group to tell their story to the whole class. 24 Role play: Write the following question on the board: How do you think the policeman felt when Dupin gave him the letter? Working with the whole class, conduct a short discussion around this question. Write up some of the students suggestions. After five or ten minutes, put the students in pairs. Student A takes the role of the policeman, Student B takes the role of Dupin. Tell the students to imagine that the policeman goes to visit Mr Dupin again some time after the end of the story. He wants to tell Dupin about how he felt when he gave him the letter and to ask him how he found it. In their pairs, the students write a dialogue and then practise it. Finally, invite some of the pairs to perform their dialogue in front of the whole class. 25 Discuss: Ask students what they think about the character of Dupin. Put them in small groups. To help them tell them to answer the following questions Is Dupin a good person or a bad person? What do you think of the way he behaved towards the policeman? Do you admire his cleverness? Do you think he is deceitful? Metzengerstein 26 Discuss: Talk about opinions of the story. Have the students jot down one or two sentences about their reaction to the story. Did they enjoy it? Why/Why not? After a few minutes, put the students in small groups and have them share and justify their preferences. The Murders in the Rue Morgue 27 Debate: In the story, no one seems to blame the sailor for the behaviour of the orangutan. Divide the class into two equally-sized groups. Tell them that they are going to have a debate on the issue of the keeping of dangerous animals. Write the following statement on the board: This house believes that the owner of animal that injures or kills a person should be prosecuted. Regardless of their personal views, allocate to one half of the class the role of arguing in favour of the proposition, and to the other half, allocate the role of arguing against the proposition. Give the groups enough time to prepare their arguments and to elect two spokespersons. Then proceed with the debate, with the two speakers in favour going first. At the end of the debate have the class vote on the question. Vocabulary activities For the Word List and vocabulary activities, go to c Pearson Education Limited Teacher s notes 5 of 5