ALEX Classroom Resource

  

"The Tell-Tale Heart" | Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive

  Classroom Resource Information  

Title:

 "The Tell-Tale Heart" | Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive

URL:

 https://aptv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/poe17-ela-heart/the-tell-tale-heart-edgar-allan-poe-buried-alive/

Content Source:

 PBS
Type: Audio/Video

Overview:

Explore Edgar Allan Poe’s famous short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart,“ in this video from the American Masters film Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive. Discussion questions, teaching tips, and a student handout ask students to analyze the work while also learning more about the art of writing a short story. Students are asked to consider why the story remains popular today, its connections to music, and how Poe hooks readers from the very first sentence. Students are also asked to identify the theme of the work. Students also analyze the author's word choice or diction.

Content Standard(s):
English Language Arts
ELA2021 (2021)
Grade: 6
1. Identify and explain an author's rhetorical choices, including point of view, purpose, anecdotes, and figurative, connotative, and technical word meanings, to develop central and supporting ideas.
Unpacked Content
Teacher Vocabulary:
1.
  • Rhetorical choices
  • Point of view
  • Purpose
  • Anecdotes
  • Figurative word meaning
  • Connotative word meaning
  • Technical word meaning
  • Central idea
  • Supporting idea
Knowledge:
1. Students know:
  • Authors make specific rhetorical choices in their writing to convey meaning.
  • Rhetorical devices include point of view, purpose, personal anecdotes, and word choice.
  • Authors develop the main idea of the text by including supporting details to further elaborate on the text's central meaning.
Skills:
1. Students are able to:
  • Identify an author's rhetorical choices related to point of view, purpose, anecdotes, and figurative, connotative, and technical word meanings.
  • Explain why an author made particular rhetorical choices related to point of view, purpose, anecdotes, and figurative, connotative, and technical word meanings.
  • Explain how an author's rhetorical choices developed the central and supporting ideas of the text.
Understanding:
1. Students understand that:
  • When writing a text, authors make specific decisions about the structure, format, and vocabulary to accurately convey their central idea.
English Language Arts
ELA2021 (2021)
Grade: 7
17. Identify the conventions of standard English grammar and usage in writing.

a. Identify subject-verb agreement with compound subjects joined by correlative and coordinating conjunctions and with collective nouns when verb form depends on the rest of the sentence.

b. Identify the usage of simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex statements and questions to signal differing relationships among ideas in a text.

c. Evaluate the functions of phrases and clauses in general and their function in specific sentences.
Unpacked Content
Teacher Vocabulary:
17.
  • Conventions
  • Standard English grammar
  • Standard English usage
17a.
  • Subject-verb agreement
  • Compound subjects
  • Correlative Conjunctions
  • Coordinating conjunctions
  • Collective nouns
  • Verb forms
17b.
  • Simple statements and questions
  • Compound statements and questions
  • Complex statements and questions
  • Compound-complex statements and questions
17c.
  • Phrases
  • Clauses
Knowledge:
17. Students know:
  • The conventions of standard English grammar and usage.
17a.
  • The subject of a sentence is connected to a verb, and the subject and verb must match in number, case, and person.
17b.
  • Methods to identify the usage of simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex statements and questions in text.
17c.
  • Strategies to evaluate the functions of phrases and clauses.
Skills:
17. Students are able to:
  • Identify conventions of standard English grammar and usage in texts.
17a.
  • Identify subject-verb agreement in a sentence with compound subjects joined by a correlative conjunction.
  • Identify subject-verb agreement in a sentence with compound subjects joined by a coordinating conjunction.
  • Identify subject-verb agreement in a sentence with collective nouns when verb form depends on the rest of the sentence.
17b.
  • Identify various types of statements and questions to assess the relationship of ideas in a text.
17c.
  • Evaluate how phrases and clauses function in general.
  • Evaluate how phrases and clauses function in a particular sentence.
Understanding:
17. Students understand that:
  • Writing should demonstrate the appropriate use of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage.
17a.
  • Particular rules exist for subject-verb choices to ensure accurate use of conventions of standard English.
  • Authors should ensure subject-verb agreement in all sentences, including those with compound subjects, conjunctions, and collective nouns.
17b.
  • Different types of statements and questions are used in writing to describe relationships among ideas.
17c.
  • Particular phrases and clauses are used in writing for emphasis, to convey specific ideas, and to enhance meaning.
English Language Arts
ELA2021 (2021)
Grade: 8
3. Analyze how authors use key literary elements, including setting, plot, theme, characters, internal and external conflict, dialogue, and point of view, to contribute to the meaning and purpose of a text, using text evidence as support.
Unpacked Content
Teacher Vocabulary:
3.
  • Literary elements
  • Setting
  • Plot
  • Theme
  • Characters
  • Internal conflict
  • External conflict
  • Dialogue
  • Points of view
  • Text evidence
Knowledge:
3. Students know:
  • Authors of prose and poetry use literary elements, such as setting, plot, characters, theme, conflict, dialogue, and point of view, throughout a text to develop and/or enhance the meaning of the text.
  • An author's use of literary elements can indicate the author's purpose for writing the text.
  • Analysis of a text should be supported with text evidence from the writing.
Skills:
3. Students are able to:
  • Identify the setting, plot, characters, theme, internal and external conflict, dialogue, and point of view in literary text.
  • Analyze how literary elements contribute to the meaning and purpose of literary text.
  • Support their analysis of literary elements with textual evidence.
Understanding:
3. Students understand that:
  • Prose and poetry contain common literary elements, such as setting, plot, characters, theme, conflict, dialogue, and point of view.
  • Literary elements contribute to the meaning and purpose of literary text.
  • When they analyze a text, they should include text evidence to support their claims.
Tags: American Literature, analyze, diction, Poe, repetition, Style, summary, The Tell Tale Heart, Theme, word choice, word meaning
License Type: Custom Permission Type
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For full descriptions of license types and a guide to usage, visit :
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AccessibilityText Resources: Content is organized under headings and subheadings
Video resources: includes closed captioning or subtitles
Comments

A Close Reading

After watching the video, ask students to complete “The Tell-Tale Heart” A Close Reading handout to help students analyze how Poe’s use of diction, repetition, and punctuation help to establish the narrator’s state of mind.

Literary Salon

Create a literary salon like the gatherings held during Poe's time for a dramatic reading of the short story. Rearrange desks, add mood lighting, wear costumes – brainstorm other ideas. Ask students to take turns reading the story “in character.” Have fun!

Literary Tableau

Ask students to dramatize the story by creating a tableau of a scene in the story. In pairs or small groups, ask students to create a still-life representation of a key scene in the story.

The Soundtrack of Madness

Ask students to select a song they think would work well as a soundtrack for the story. Have them share a short clip of the song with the class and explain why they think the piece of music works well with the story.

Vocabulary

diction | (n.) word choice.

repetition |(n.) in literature, the recurrence of a word or phrase that reinforces meaning

style |(n.) a way of using language, including word choice, punctuation, etc.

unequivocal |(n.) leaving no doubt; unambiguous.

  This resource provided by:  
Author: Jessica Byrd
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