The+Tell+Tale+Heart

In this unit, we will be reading "The Tell-Tale Heart," a timeless tale of suspense and horror from Edgar Allan Poe. By analyzing such literary elements as plot and point of view, you will draw conclusions about how Poe creates a mood of suspense and dramatic irony within the story. To complete the study, you will complete three Tell-Tale Heart Tasks, using a variety of video and animation tools.

Common Core State Standards: In this unit, the following CCSS will be addressed- 3. Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision. **Craft and Structure** 6. Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor. **Integration of Knowledge and Ideas** 7. Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors.
 * Key Ideas and Details (R.L.8.)**

**The Tell-Tale Heart Tasks** Before we read the story, read the biography of Edgar Allan Poe from The Poe Museum. This biography link can also be found on our class site for Edgar Allan Poe here. After reading the biography, create a mind map of Poe's life by selecting at least three major events from his life and brainstorming how those events contributed to his style of writing. In other words, how did different life events cause him to become the dark and moody writer that he was? To create your mind map, go to Bubble.us media type="custom" key="23358582"

**Task 1:** As we have learned at the beginning of the year, all short stories have a plot consisting of the exposition, rising, action, climax, falling action, and resolution. For this task, you will recreate all parts of The Tell-Tale Heart plot using the comic creator Pixton. All panels you design should depict the major events in the story with dialogue close to the original text as possible in order to create the feelings of suspense. Visit the blog or see an example of part of the plot here.

**Task 2:** To understand the concept of the narrator in The Tell Tale Heart being unreliable, it is important to examine events in the plot from a different point of view. For this activity, you will analyze the plot from the vantage point of another character from the story besides the narrator, such as the old man or the police. To show the story from a different character's point of view, use the animation tool Xtranormal. To see an example, visit our Poe site.

**Task 3:** To analyze literary elements such as character and theme, it is often helpful to compare the original written work to film version of the story. Throughout the years, several loose film adapations of The Tell-Tale Heart have been made; however, none of them have achieved the success or popularity of Poe's original story. For this task, you will create your own film version of The Tell-Tale Heart by using the video creator Animoto. As the filmmaker, you have the liberty to change elements such as setting and character, but the plot must reflect a situation of dramtic irony much like the original. In designing your own video, think about the importance that music, text, and pictures will play in creating a feeling of suspense for the viewers. Once your video is complete, be prepared to share and describe your choices for slides, music, and text to the class. You will also have the opportunity to critique another classmate's video, comparing their version to Poe's story. To see an example, visit our Poe site.

Rubrics