Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a quintessentially gothic short story about a man who visits the last living descendants of the Usher family at their ancestral estate. The story is built on metaphors, most notably that of the “House of Usher,” which refers to both the house itself and to the family lineage. As the narrator observes, the Ushers’ descent into madness matches the decay and collapse of the estate around them.

Skills: analysis, drawing inferences from text, close reading, identifying the relationship between words

About This Document

The Owl Eyes Analyzing Metaphor activity gives students an opportunity to practice examining and analyzing metaphors. Students will engage with specific selections of the text and work collaboratively to identify the vehicle, tenor, and implications of each metaphor. The main components include the following:

• A brief introduction to the text
• A detailed handout on metaphor types
• A step-by-step guide to activity procedure
• A detailed answer key for teachers

In completing this worksheet, students will learn to classify and analyze different kinds of metaphors in order to develop close reading skills and draw deeper inferences from the text.