The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe

Vocabulary & Questions

Unburthen - To unburden; to unload.
Expound - to make a detailed statement; to explain;
interpret
Baroque - extravagantly ornate, florid, and convoluted in
character or style; irregular in shape
Rigorous - severely exact or accurate; precise: rigorous
research
Inscrutability - not easily understood; mysterious;
unfathomable
Swooning - to faint; lose consciousness
Stupefied - crazy, magnificent, unbelievable, amazing
Docility - easily managed or handled
Sagacious - having or showing acute mental discernment
and keen practical sense; shrewd
Tinctured - to imbue or infuse with something.

1. Describe the narrator as a child and compare it to his life as

an adult. Use text evidence to support your answer.
As a child, the narrator was known for being very kind and loving
of all creatures, as he says, From infancy I was noted for the
docility and humanity of my disposition. As an adult, he
became violent and even killed a cat and his wife. He said, I
took from my waistcoat-pocket a penknife, opened it, grasped
the poor beat by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes
from the socket! And then on the next page he proceeds to say,
One morning, in cold blood, I slipped a noose about its neck
and hung it to the limb of a tree. On page 11, the narrator said,
I withdrew my arm from her grasp and buried the axe in her
brain., showing how violent he has become in adulthood.
Pg #: 3, 5, 6 and 11

2. On what does he blame his evil ways? Use text evidence to

support your answer.
The narrator blames his evil ways and violence on being drunk.
On page 5, he says, But my disease grew upon me-for what
disease is like Alcohol!
Pg #: 5
3. Describe Pluto. How do the narrator and his wife initially react
to him? Use text evidence to support your answer.
Pluto was a very big, black cat. The narrator and his wife were
originally loving. The narrator talked about how Pluto was his,
favorite pet and playmate.
Pg #: 4
4. A. What does the narrator first do to harm Pluto?Use text
evidence to support your answer.
The first thing that the narrator does to harm Pluto is cut out one
of his eyes. On page 5, he said, I took from my waistcoatpocket a penknife, opened it, grasped the poor beat by the
throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket!
Pg #: 5
B. Why do you think he does this? I think that the narrator did
this because he was drunk. He said that he had just come home,
intoxicated.
C. How does Pluto react to him after this incident?Use text
evidence to support your answer.
Pluto avoids him from then on, always running away whenever
he sees the narrator. The narrator said on page 5, He went
about the house as usual, but, as might be expected, fled in
extreme terror at my approach.
Pg #: 5

5. How does the narrator rationalize killing Pluto? Use text

evidence to support your answer.
The narrator killed Pluto because he thought God would never
forgive him for killing the cat that had done him no wrong, and
so he thought he would get his rightful punishment. On page 6,
the narrator says he, hung it because I knew that it had loved
me, and because I felt it had given me no reason of offense;hung it because I knew that in so doing I was committing a sin-a
deadly sin that would so jeopardize my immortal soul as to place
it-if such a thing were possible-even beyond the reach of the
infinite mercy of the Most Merciful and Most Terrible God.
Pg #: 6
6. What happens the night after the narrator kills Pluto?
After the narrator kills Pluto, his house catches on fire.
7. What does he discover the next morning? What do you think
this indicates?
The next morning, in the narrators chamber, is Pluto. The
previous night, people had gone to the garden when the fire
started and someone had seen the cat and threw it into the fire.
I think this indicates that the narrator will never be able to get
rid of Pluto, and will forever haunt him.
8. How does the new cat differ from Pluto? What do you think
this trait symbolizes?Use text evidence to support your answer.
The new cat is also big and black like Pluto, but the new cat has
a white symbol on his chest. He also is in love with the narrator,
just like Pluto was before the narrator became violent and cut
out his eye. I think this trait symbolizes how the new cat does
have some similar aspects to the old Pluto, and therefore makes
the narrator not like the new cat at all, because it reminds him
so much of Pluto. On page 9, the narrator had said, I avoided
the creature; a certain sense of shame, and the remembrance of
my former deed of cruelty, preventing me from physically

abusing it.
Pg #: 9
9. Explain the circumstances concerning the murder of the
narrators wife. Use text evidence to support your answer.
The narrator was actually trying to kill the new cat, because it
had accidentally made him lose his balance and fall down the
stairs. He had grabbed an axe and aimed it at the cat, but the
wife stopped him, so, angered at the disruption, the narrator
killed his wife. On page 11, he said, and nearly throwing me
headlong, exasperated me to madness. Uplifting an axe, and
forgetting, in my wrath, the childish dread which had hitherto
stayed my hand, I aimed a blow at the animal, which on, of
course, would have proved fatal had it descended as I wished.
But this blow was arrested by the hand of my wife. Goaded by
the interference into a rage more than demonical, I withdrew my
arm from her grasp and buried the axe in her brain.
Pg #: 11
10. Compare The Black Cat to The Tell Tale Heart. Identify 3
things that are similar between the two stories.
1. The narrator insists that he is not crazy and insane
2. The narrator tries to hide a murder committed inside
walls or floors, but eventually fails
3. The narrator does not have a name

RUBRIC
RL.8.3: Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a
story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or
provoke a decision.
Not Yet Meeting
Struggled to
identify where

Approaching
Standard
Identified where
particular lines of

Meeting
Standard
Explained how
particular lines of

Exceeding Standard
Explained how
particular lines of

particular lines of
dialogue or events
in a story or
drama propel the
action, reveal
aspects of a
character, or
cause a certain
decision to be
made

dialogue or events in a
story or drama propel
the action, reveal
aspects of a character,
or cause a certain
decision to be made,
but did not explain
how.

dialogue or events
in a story or drama
propel the action,
reveal aspects of a
character, or cause
a certain decision
to be made

dialogue or events in a
story or drama propel
the action, reveal
aspects of a character,
or cause a certain
decision to be made
AND supported an
argument for how this
is important to the
overall story