.
1) Whatisimportantaboutthetitle?
2) HowdoesEdgarAllanPoerevealcharacterinTheBlackCat?
3) Whatarethethemesinthestory? Howdotheyrelatetotheplotandcharacters?
4) WhatarethesymbolsinTheBlackCat? Howdotheyrelatetotheplotandcharacters?
5) Doyouthinktherearetwoblackcats, orjustone?
6) Doesthestorygiveanycluesastohoworbywhomthefirewasstarted? Ifso, whatarethey?
7) Dotheuseofcapitallettershelpsetthetoneofthestory? Ifso, how? Wouldthestoryhavebeenbetterorworsewithoutthesetouches?
8) Isthisstoryrelevanttoyou, andyourlife? Whyorwhynot?
9) Howdoyoufeelaboutcats? Didthestorychangeyourfeelings? Ifso, how?
10) DoesTheBlackCatremindyouofanyotherstoriesyou’veread, ormoviesyou’veseen? Whatarethesimilaritiesanddifferences?
(T) orfalse (F).
1) TheBlackCatisasinisterportrayalofanimal.( )
2) Hangingandaxingareexamplesofthetheme “violence”.( )
3) Thenarratorwritesfromhisbedroom.( )
4) Thenarrator’sfriendshipwithPlutolastsforseveralyears.( )
5) Thealcoholpushesthenarratorintofitsofintemperanceandviolence.( )
6) Thenarratorisunawareofthetransformationinhimselfthathasledhimtobecomeamurderer.( )
7) Plutoneverrecoveredfromhisinjuryanddiedinthefire.( )
8) ThesecondcatisthesamesizeandcolorasPlutoandisevenmissinganeye.( )
9) Thesecondcatwaspurchasedfromthelandlordofatavern.( )
10) TheBlackCatisinmanywaysamoraltalethatdealswiththetensionbetweenloveandhateandthatwarnsofthedangersofalcohol.( )
: Fillintheblankstocompletethesummaryofthestory.
, includingalargeblackcatnamed1).Althoughhiswifeoftenreferstothesuperstitionthatblackcatsareactuallydisguised2) , thenarratorisparticularlyfondoftheunusuallyintelligentcat.
Insubsequentyears, thenarratorbecomesincreasinglymoodyandirritabledueto3) , , whenhecomeshomedrunkand, imaginingthatPlutoisavoidinghim, heseizesthecat, which4) , thenarratorlosescontrolandcutsoneofPluto’s5) , , butitconspicuouslyavoidsitsowner, whoisatfirstgrievedandlaterannoyedandprovoked.Hedescribesitasaprimitiveimpulseof6) thatdriveshimtocompletehisattackonPlutoby7) thecatfromatree, althoughhecriesashedoesthedeed, awarethathehascommittedadeadlysinonananimalthatoncelovedhim.
Thesamenightasthecat’sdeath, thehouseisseton8) , andthenarrator, hiswife, , onthesinglewallthatdidnotfallinthefireisanimageofagigantic9) , reasoningthatsomeonemusthavethrownthecatintohiswindowtotrytowakehimupinthefireandthatasotherwallsfell, theymusthavecompressedtheanimalintotheplaster, wherethelime, theheat, andtheammoniafromthecat’sbodycombinedtoformthe10).However, heremainsdisturbedandfeelsasenseofregretthatfallsjustshortofremorse.
