“The Black Cat” Name _______________________ 

 
Guided Reading Questions 
 
1. What makes the speaker "the jest of his companions"? How is the speaker 
indulged by his parents? How does he spend most of his time? 
 
 
 
2. Who becomes the speaker's favorite pet? 
 
 
 
3. What happens to the speaker's temperament? Why? How does this change 
affect the pets? 
 
 
 
4. How does the speaker feel about having hurt the cat the first time? 
 
 
 
5. Why does the speaker hang the cat? 
 
 
 
6. What happens to the speaker the night after the abuse of the cat? What is the 
speaker's mindset after this event? 
 
 
 
7. What figure does the speaker see? What is on this figure? 
 
 
 
8. What does the speaker do with the cat that he sees? 
 
 
9. How does the speaker begin to feel about the cat? What strange 
characteristic of the cat intensifies these feelings? 
 
 
 
10. What distinguishes the new cat from Pluto? How does this distinguishing 
feature change shape? What does this feature finally look like? 
 
 
 
11. Why does the speaker develop a hatred for all things? 
 
 
 
12. What happens when the speaker tries to hit the cat with an ax? 
 
 
 
13. Where does the speaker decide to hide the body? 
 
 
 
14. How does the speaker feel about the absence of the cat?  
 
 
 
15. Who comes to the speaker's house? What do they do? What is the speaker's 
reaction? 
 
 
 
16. What happens when the visitors are about to leave? 
 
 
 
17. Where had the cat been?