The Tell-Tale Heart Metaphor Activity

  • 8 pages
  • Subject: Literary Devices, Metaphor, Simile, Lesson Plans and Educational Resources
  • Common Core Standards: RL.11-12.1, RL.11-12.4, RL.9-10.1, RL.9-10.4
  • Grade Levels: 7, 8, 9, 10

Product Description

A classic Poe short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart” features many of the author’s signature literary elements—a dark gothic setting, a deranged narrator, and a suspenseful plot intended to create in readers a sense of horror. As the unidentified narrator describes how he murders a helpless old man, why he does it, and how his crime is revealed to the authorities, the story becomes a psychological study of madness with Poe drawing readers into the narrator’s hallucinations and delusional thinking. Throughout the text, Poe’s use of metaphor emphasizes the narrator’s insanity and describes the eerie atmosphere in which the plot unfolds.

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

About This Document

The Owl Eyes Analyzing Metaphor worksheet 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.