Fascination with Fear
1. Poe describes the sensations of being buried alive. What imagery does Poe use to help you hear, see, smell, and feel?
2. The narrator suffers from catalepsy, a physical condition in which the individual cannot move or speak for hours or, in extreme cases, for months. According to the narrator’s explanation, what are some of the ways that one can tell a cataleptic is still living?
3. What simile does the narrator use describing his return to consciousness? What does the narrator suggest by using this simile and subsequent description?
4. As the narrator experiences fear, what techniques does Poe use to create suspense for the reader?
5. What is happening to the narrator here? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
6. The narrator describes one of his dreams. What happens and what is the significance?
7. How would you describe the narrator’s mental state? Are his actions rational?
8. What techniques does Poe use in the second paragraph to build suspense? What is the effect on you, the reader?
9. Based on the descriptions here, what has happened to the narrator?
10. How does changing sentence structure from long to short and choppy help build suspense? What emotions do you feel as you read?
11. What has happened? If you were the narrator, what would you feel hearing these voices?
12. The narrator explains how the circumstances of his night aboard the boat paralleled the circumstances of his worst fears. What are the similarities that he experiences?
13. The narrator undergoes a major change. What did the narrator do in light of his experience on the sailboat? Do you think his reaction is a typical one of someone facing their fears?
14. Think about the meaning of the last sentence. What is Poe saying in these final lines of his story?