Lesson Support for Chapter 4

First Read
Grade 9, Unit 1—Chapter 4
pp. 54-58

Connections, Grade 9, Chapter 4, First Read  © Perfection Learning®  Reproduction for classroom use only. Slide 1
 Text-Based Discussion Questions

1. How did the cat behave toward the narrator?

2. Did the narrator like the cat’s behavior? Why or why not?

3. What did the cat’s white mark look like? Did it always
look like this object or
did it change slowly? Do you think this slow change is
true or not? Why?

4. What happens at the end of the excerpt?

Connections, Grade 9, Chapter 4, First Read  © Perfection Learning®  Reproduction for classroom use only. Slide 2
 Text-Based Discussion Questions

1. How did the cat behave toward the narrator?

(The cat followed him around and would cover

him with “loathsome caresses.”)

Connections, Grade 9, Chapter 4, First Read  © Perfection Learning®  Reproduction for classroom use only. Slide 3
 Text-Based Discussion Questions

2. Did the narrator like the cat’s behavior? Why

or why not?

(The narrator found the cat’s behavior very

annoying. It made him angry. He was terrified of
the animal. The narrator hints that it is because
he had once killed a cat.)

Connections, Grade 9, Chapter 4, First Read  © Perfection Learning®  Reproduction for classroom use only. Slide 4
 Text-Based Discussion Questions

3. What did the cat’s white mark look like? Did it

always look like this object or did it change slowly?
Do you think this slow change is true or not? Why?

(The white mark looked like a gallows. It slowly

took this shape, according to the narrator.
Answers will vary on the reliability of the narrator.
Discuss whether the narrator’s thoughts can be
trusted based upon his murderous behavior.)
Connections, Grade 9, Chapter 4, First Read  © Perfection Learning®  Reproduction for classroom use only. Slide 5
 Text-Based Discussion Questions

4. What happens at the end of the excerpt?

(The man tries to kill the cat with an axe and he

kills his wife instead.)

Connections, Grade 9, Chapter 4, First Read  © Perfection Learning®  Reproduction for classroom use only. Slide 6
Focus on Determining Main Ideas, pp. 57-58

To determine the main idea of a story, think

about the following questions:

• What are the main events?

• How do the main characters respond to the
main events?
• How do the characters change over the course
of the story?

Connections, Grade 9, Chapter 4, First Read  © Perfection Learning®  Reproduction for classroom use only. Slide 7
Focus on Determining Main Ideas, pp. 57-58

Think about how the narrator of “The Black Cat”

changes over the course of the events. Trace the
narrator’s reactions to the cat’s behavior by
filling in the following blanks.

Connections, Grade 9, Chapter 4, First Read  © Perfection Learning®  Reproduction for classroom use only. Slide 8
Focus on Determining Main Ideas, pp. 57-58

Paragraph 1: The narrator describes…

his/her feeling toward a cat and how the cat in the
story reminds him of a previous cat in his life.

The cat is…

always somewhere close by. It hides beneath his chair,
climbs on his lap, and winds around his feet. At times
the narrator wants to get rid of it but doesn’t because
he is reminded of a previous crime he committed.

Connections, Grade 9, Chapter 4, First Read  © Perfection Learning®  Reproduction for classroom use only. Slide 9
Focus on Determining Main Ideas, pp. 57-58

Paragraph 2: The narrator reveals…

the guilt he feels over killing a cat he owned
previously and how he is tormented by this new
cat.

The cat is…

similar to the one the narrator previously killed.
They are eerily similar except for the markings of
white hair.
Connections, Grade 9, Chapter 4, First Read  © Perfection Learning®  Reproduction for classroom use only. Slide 10
Focus on Determining Main Ideas, pp. 57-58

Paragraph 3: The narrator…

The narrator’s guilt and torment is increasing.
He can no longer rest without imagining the cat,
suffocating him with terror and guilt.

Connections, Grade 9, Chapter 4, First Read  © Perfection Learning®  Reproduction for classroom use only. Slide 11
Focus on Determining Main Ideas, pp. 57-58

Paragraphs 4–5: The narrator…

is haunted by his evil thoughts. One day he takes
an axe to kill the cat, but his wife stops him.
Then in a fit of rage, he turns the axe on his wife
and kills her.

Connections, Grade 9, Chapter 4, First Read  © Perfection Learning®  Reproduction for classroom use only. Slide 12
Focus on Determining Main Ideas, pp. 57-58

How do the narrator’s thoughts and actions change

throughout the story? Do you see a progression?
Describe the changes from beginning to end.
Over the course of the story, the narrator become
increasingly more upset by the cat’s behavior. The
more the cat loves the man, the more the man
despises it. Slowly, the narrator is driven mad
because the cat is a daily reminder of his crime
against the previous cat.

Connections, Grade 9, Chapter 4, First Read  © Perfection Learning®  Reproduction for classroom use only. Slide 13