This document contains 15 study questions about Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale Heart". The questions cover elements of the plot, characters, themes and literary devices used in the story, including the narrative perspective, the relationship between the narrator and old man, the crime committed and what is heard at the end.

1. Study Questions for "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe
1. Is this story told in first person, second person, or third person
point of view? How can you tell?
2. In what way has the old man previously wronged the narrator?
3. As the story opens, what is the relationship like between the old
man and the narrator?
4. What does the narrator imagine the old man’s bad eye as?
5. Why has the old man fastened his shutters?
6. How can the old man best be characterized?
7. What does the narrator compare the lantern’s ray falling on the
eye to?
8. Why does the narrator commit his crime?
9. Why does he wait 8 days to commit his crime?
10. How does the murderer get rid of the victim’s body?
11. What is an example of sound imagery in “The Tell-Tale Heart”?
12. What does’tell-tale’ mean?
13. Is the narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart” insane?
14. What do you think the narrator is really hearing at the end of the
story? What makes you think so?
15. Is the conflict in this story external or internal? Could it be both?
Give evidence from the story to support your answer.