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Year 8 - English

Reading 'The Tell-Tale Heart'

A monster within: reading and writing Gothic fiction

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils explore the Gothic. They start by learning what the Gothic is, before reading extracts from 'Frankenstein' and 'Jane Eyre', practising descriptive writing and reading 'The Tell-Tale Heart'. They finally learn how to write opinion articles and then write their own.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to explain the overarching plot of the 'Tell Tale Heart'.

Key Notes

  • 'The Tell-Tale Heart' is the story about the murder of an old man.
  • The narrator did not murder for money but for fear of the man's blue eyes.
  • The narrator kills the man as he worries a neighbour may hear the loud beating of his heart.
  • The narrator dismembers the body and hides it under the floorboards.
  • The narrator continues to hear the beating heart of the dead man, which leads him to confess.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • Paranoia: suspicion and mistrust of other people or their actions that is not rational
  • Methodical: taking a systematic and organised approach to something
  • Dissimulation: pretence - hiding one's true thoughts or feelings
  • Sane: being of sound and sensible mind
  • Delusional: holding irrational or untrue beliefs - in this context, as a result of mental illness

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Students might not recognise that there is a possibility that the sound of the old man's heart beating, may be the sound of the narrator's own heart beating.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.

'The Tell-Tale Heart' is the story about the murder of an old man. The narrator did not murder for money but for fear of the man's blue eyes.

2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'Paranoia'

suspicion and mistrust of other people or their actions that is not rational.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Students might not recognise that there is a possibility that the sound of the old man's heart beating, may be the sound of the narrator's own heart beating. Correction: Some may interpret the sound of the old man's heart beating as the sound of the narrator's own heart beating, with anticipation and excitement at the prospect of the imminent murder.

More Lessons In This Unit

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