“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe

Thinking notes – first read

Annotation – second read

Reading rigorous text

A well-annotated text will accomplish all of the following:

•clearly identify where in the text important ideas and information are located

•express the main ideas of a text

What is annotation?

•trace the development of ideas/arguments or SUSPENSE throughout a text

•introduce a few of the reader’s thoughts and reactions

and annotations will……..

Anxiety or apprehension resulting from an uncertain, undecided, or mysterious situation

Master of suspense

Suspense

Advancing or developing something at a particular rate or tempo.

What happens to the cat(s) in the story?

Pacing

This is pretty self-explanatory

How does the narrator’s violent nature cause trouble for everyone including himself?

Dangerous action

A literary device in which the author gives clues as to what will happen later.

For example: The narrator is awaiting execution at the beginning of the story. What does this tell us?

Foreshadowing

Make this chartSuspenseful Moment

DangerousAction

Pacing Foreshadowing

Five examples of a suspenseful moment in story

Identify each example as dangerous, pacing or foreshadowing

In the correct box, analyze the suspense

Make a chart with four columns and five rows. The columns should be labeled

◦ Suspenseful Moment◦ Dangerous Action◦ Pacing◦ Foreshadowing

Find five suspenseful moments in the story and fill in the first column

Decide if each moment is either dangerous action, pacing or foreshadowing

In the proper square, write a short analysis

Directions – In your journal

In your journal write a short response about your analysis of suspense.

These questions may help you if you are having trouble:◦ How does Poe use foreshadowing to create

suspense?◦ How does the dangerous actions of the narrator

establish an ominous mood?◦ How does knowing the narrator is awaiting

execution as the story beings make it more or less suspenseful?

Directions