New
New
Year 8
Symbolism in 'The Tell-Tale Heart'
I can identify and explain key symbols in ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’.
New
New
Year 8
Symbolism in 'The Tell-Tale Heart'
I can identify and explain key symbols in ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Symbolism is where writers use objects, characters, or elements in their work, to represent deeper ideas and themes.
- Poe uses the old man’s eye to symbolise intrusion, truth and moral or spiritual judgement in the story.
- Poe uses the heart beat to symbolise the narrator’s guilt, paranoia and time running out.
- Symbols allow the writer to communicate hidden or deeper meanings within the text.
- When writing about a writer’s use of symbolism, it is always important to discuss why it has been used.
Common misconception
Students often do not understand the depth of meaning that symbolism can provide.
Symbols communicate hidden or deeper meanings to the reader, so that they can better understand the characters or themes of the text.
Keywords
Symbolism - where writers use objects, characters, or elements in their work, to represent deeper ideas and themes
Spiritual judgement - the idea that people are morally-judged by a higher, spiritual being
Recurring - if something recurs, it repeatedly occurs - it keeps happening
Intrusion - when someone wrongfully enters a space they shouldn’t be - this can be physical or metaphorical space
Print Jacob's response for Task C in learning cycle 3 and annotate it, looking at how Jacob has answered the questions on the task slide in his response.
Teacher tip
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
- Depiction or discussion of upsetting content
- Depiction or discussion of serious crime
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).
Video
Loading...
Starter quiz
Download starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.
What is a symbol?
a character who represents an approach
a narrative structure
an object that represents the characters
Q2.
At which points in 'The Tell-Tale Heart' does the narrator hear the beating heart of the old man?
in the beginning when he spies on the old man
when the police first arrive at the house, just after he has killed the old man
Q3.
Which words are used to describe the old man's eye in 'The Tell-Tale Heart'?
"milky, white, rat-like"
"pale, opaque and eel-like"
"blue, bright, snake-like"
Q4.
Robbers intrude on people's homes. What might 'to intrude' mean?
to say something you are not supposed to say
to take something that is not yours
to move something away from its correct home
Q5.
How does the narrator in 'The Tell-Tale Heart' murder the old man?
He stabs him and then lets him bleed out
He strangles him with his bare hands
He hits him over the head with a floor board
Q6.
Which of the following quotations best shows the narrator's hysteria and loss of control in 'The Tell-Tale Heart'?
"But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed."
"I bade the gentlemen welcome."
"Upon the eighth night I was more than usually cautious in opening the door. "
"You should have seen how wisely I proceeded—with what caution"
Exit quiz
Download exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.
Which of the following is not a theme in 'The Tell-Tale Heart'?
guilt
death
justice
madness/sanity
Q2.
Which of the following are explanations of the symbolism of eyes in 'The Tell-Tale Heart'?
eyes represent a lack of clarity - what the narrator cannot see
eyes represent hatred and fear because the narrator hates the old man
eyes represent guidance and support, as the eye guides the narrator
Q3.
Which of the following quotations from 'The Tell-Tale Heart' best supports the idea that the old man's eye symbolises spiritual judgement?
"I kept quite still and said nothing"
"here, here!—It is the beating of his hideous heart!”
"it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye"
Q4.
Which of the following does the sound of the beating heart in 'The Tell-Tale Heart' not symbolise?
time running out for the old man
time running out for the narrator
the narrator's intense guilt
the narrator's paranoia
Q5.
If the beating heart in 'The Tell-Tale Heart' represents the narrator's guilt, then what point might Poe be trying to suggest about guilt?
that guilt is fleeting and passes with time
that guilt is an emotion that everybody has to experience in their life
that guilt is an emotion that can be ignored in the moment
that guilt always drives a person to insanity
Q6.
Why might a writer use symbolism?
to make their text more sophsiticated and impressive
to make the reading experience more multi-sensory for the reader
to reflect the various characters in the story
to move the plot along in the story
Additional material
Download additional material
We're sorry, but preview is not currently available. Download to see additional material.