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“The Cask of

Amontillado”

Edgar Allan Poe

Cornell Notes

• You will be creating your own Cornell Notes today.

• Topic: The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe

• Essential Question: How does knowledge about a writer‘s life affect a reader’s understanding of the author’s writing?

Do not start taking notes until I tell

you what to write. Listen, absorb,

then record important info only!

Edgar Allan Poe

Mini Bio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-387NMCR6w

What is Poe’s writing known for?

Edgar Allan Poe

• Developed characters whose sanity is questionable.

– Which point of view deals with unreliable narrators?

• Father of “the short story”

What are most of his stories about?

Edgar Allan Poe Bio

• Most of his stories deal with death and murder.

• He adapted stories from actual news headlines to create gothic tales.

• His poem “The Raven” is his most highly acclaimed work

How did Poe die?

Edgar Allan Poe Bio

• It was said that Poe died of "congestion of the brain."

– Actual cause of death is up for debate (alcohol, drugs, rabies, epilepsy, carbon monoxide poisoning, etc.)

What was one of Poe’s biggest fears?

Behind the Story

Poe had a real fear of being buried alive

After reading Poe’s work, a Russian inventor

created a device that allowed “deceased” to

ring a bell so that people would hear it

Think about this as we read “Cask of

Amontillado”

*This is where the phrase “saved by the bell”

comes from

“The Cask of Amontillado” is a macabre tale of revenge!

*macabre: gruesome, horrifying

“…but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.”

What is carnival?

Carnival

Carnival

• Carnival is a secular (non-religious) holiday, but it evolved from the Christian observance known as Lent.

• Lent is a solemn forty-day period of fasting prior to Easter.

Carnival

• Traditionally, the fasting during Lent involves abstaining from eating meat.

• Modern interpretations of fasting may involve abstaining from anything one enjoys.

Carn + Val

FLESH (Meat) + FAREWELL

• Before participating in Lent, people celebrated one final time through carnival.

• People ate, drank, and socialized—sometimes this resulted in extreme behaviors and many people let down their guard.

European Carnival traditions survive in the

United States in the form of Mardi Gras.

What is the setting of the story?

Setting of “Cask. . .”

• “The Cask of Amontillado” is set during the “supreme madness” of Carnival.

• In such an atmosphere, it is easy to see how a crime could go unnoticed.

Palazzo– a large,

imposing

building (as a

museum or place

of residence) esp.

in Italy

What are some terms I should know?

Fine Wine (vintages)

Cask of Wine

Nitre is a potassium nitrate

salt formerly known as saltpeter. Saltpeter is composed of the names “Sal” or salt, and “Petrae” or rock. Literally, salt of the rock.

“…but observe the white webwork which gleams from the these cavern walls.”

Nitre encrusted on an ancient jar

an ancient vault or catacomb

A Flagon is a vase or

decanter used to store

wine or liquor

A Trowel is a hand

tool used to lay bricks

and build walls

MASONS

Two definitions:

A member of the

fraternity of

Freemasons, a worldwide

fraternal organization

OR

One whose occupation is

to build with stone or

brick; also, one who

prepares stone for

building purposes.

Symbol for the Freemasons

“A huge foot d’or, in a field azure; the foot

crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are

imbedded in the heal.”

Let's put your dictionary skills to

the test. Copy down the sentence

below, then use the dictionary to

define difficult words. Once you

know the meaning, paraphrase it

in your Cornell Notes.

THE FAMILY

ARMS

“A huge foot d’or, in a

field azure; the foot

crushes a serpent

rampant whose fangs

are imbedded in the

heal.”

FAMILY MOTTO

“Nemo me impune lacessit” Translation: “No one provokes me with

impunity” or “No one attacks me and gets away with it.”

In “The Cask of Amontillado”…

The narrator plans for his revenge to take place in the catacombs beneath his estate.

What are catacombs?

Catacombs: Cities of the Dead

Paris Catacombs

• It lies far beneath the city

• In it, there are the bones of 5 to 6 million people.

• Starting from the late 18th century, lacking in space to put corpses, bodies of people who could not afford proper burials were moved from the overflowing cemeteries and dumped there.

Paris Catacombs

• The bones are piled around in heaps that line the walls. Some of the bones are in gigantic stacks.

• Some bones are fashioned into macabreconfigurations: A cross made from femurs

Why Catacombs?

• overcrowding

• disease

• overflowing cemeteries

• Proper burial became impossible.

• Stench/decay brought disease

Catacombs & the Wealthy

• It was not unusual for wealthy to have catacombs under their estates

• They could place the remains of their own family members here

The narrator of “The Cask of Amontillado” carries out his

revenge within the catacombs beneath his

palazzo.

Visiting the Catacombs

• It is possible for one to take a tour of the catacombs today.

• First, you walk down a long tunnel. . .

• And then you see. . .

Questions for the Reader. . .

• Do you think anyone celebrating outside will be able to hear anything occurring in Montressor’s catacombs?

• Would you ever dare go to someone’s personal catacombs?

What are the definitions?

As we read we will be analyzing…

Setting: the time and place Mood: atmosphere that the author createsTone: attitude an author takes towards the subjectPoint of View: 1st person, 2nd, person, 3rd

personIrony: what we expect to happen vs what really happens (situational, verbal, dramatic)Imagery: when an author paints a picture with words (5 senses)Plot: the chain of events in a story

Let us begin reading!