Download “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe Preliminary Assignment

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“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe Preliminary Assignment
SECTION 1: NONFICTION ARTICLE (background information)
Directions: Read the following article. Use your active reading strategies (code the text, annotate,
and write comments showing your thoughts about the article).
The Evil Eye
Belief in the Evil Eye crosses many cultures and is rooted in folklore. A person
possessed of an Evil Eye is believed to have the ability to harm people simply by looking
at them in a particular way. Belief in the Evil Eye can be found in the ancient Greek and
Roman cultures. It spread throughout Europe and persists in some Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist,
Hindu, and Christian traditions. Often a beautiful or wealthy person is the victim of a curse
cast by someone with an Evil Eye who is jealous of his or her good fortune. The curse may
be deliberate or unintentional. A variety of charms or talismans are worn by believers to
ward off the Evil Eye.
Annotate and
comment about
the text in this
space below:
Holt McDougal Literature Book Grade 8 – Common Core Edition
SECTION 2: VOCABULARY PREVIEW
Directions: Look over the preview list of new focal words for “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan
Poe. Categorize these words into the 2 groups below based on what you know about the words at
this point. Just list the words. Do not define them – we will learn more about them tomorrow.
Focal Vocabulary Words
- acute
- audacity
- conceive
- crevice
- derision
- hypocritical
- stealthily
- vehemently
- vex
NEED CONTEXT CLUES TO DETERMINE THE MEANING
CAN DETERMINE MEANING BASED ON “WORD PARTS”
SECTION 3: PREVIEW WORDS TO NOTE
Directions: Look over the list of words below. Categorize the Words to Note in the chart. Then, based on
these terms, the nonfiction article, and the focal words, make predictions about the literary elements in
the chart for the short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe.
Words to Note
- mad (not angry)
- nervous
- cunning
- terror
- midnight
- disease
- officers
- mockery
MAIN CHARACTER(S)
- planks
- beating
- tale
- suspicious
CONFLICT
- suspense
- wary
- Death (note the capital D)
- motive/motivation
PLOT
SETTING
Words:
Words:
Words:
Words:
I predict…because…
I predict…because…
I predict…because…
I predict…because…