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The Tell-Tale Heart is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe of an unnamed narrator who murders an older man who lives in the same house as him. The narrator is then haunted by what he thinks is the rapid heartbeat of the deceased man, coming from beneath the floorboards. The Tell-Tale Heart was published in 1843 in a small Boston publication called The Pioneer: A Literary and Critical Magazine. The short story is often presented as a classic of gothic horror. The Tell-Tale Heart centers on the unreliable, unnamed narrator who spends much of the text trying to convince the reader that he is not insane. The narrator goes into excruciating detail on some details of the planned and later executed murder while giving away very little information about himself.
Moreover, the narrator’s case is undermined as he cannot provide a motive for committing the murder. This short story can be analyzed from the formalist literary theory approach, including addressing such questions as to how the imagery was used to develop symbols, the work’s organic unity, and interconnectedness. Moreover, the theory helps to approach the application of paradox, irony, ambiguity, and tension, as well as the story’s aesthetic, resolution of contradictions, the content, and central passage of the work. If you remember, I told you how I broke down each area of a literary analysis essay into lessons, chunks, chart papers, and examples just so I could get my own brain wrapped around things, but not surprisingly it was exactly what my students needed too. And although middle school ELA teachers across the nation are expected to teach 12, 13, and 14 year olds how to analyze a piece of literature in the form of an essay, there was basically nothing out there for middle school literary analysis. A. Reading fluency: Practice reading aloud an excerpt of The Most Beautiful Roof in the World. See the Reading Fluency chart in your Unit 2 homework for some excerpt suggestions. Once students have completed the first draft of their essay, you can assign a Literary Analysis Self Review to help them revise their own work. When students revise their Guided Drafts, you will be able to see the previous submissions to check that they understood your feedback and made appropriate changes.
commenting on the cultural currency of your argument
During Peer Review, students write a specific component of their essays (like their thesis statements) and then give and receive anonymous feedback from classmates to improve their writing. You can use Peer Review to help students focus on one part of their essays. Students can then use their revised essay components as part of a full-length Guided Drafts assignment.
Charters, Ann. “The Elements of Fiction.” [header note.]
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Maupassant, Guy de. “The Necklace.” [First published 1884.] Rpt.
If your students are preparing to draft full essays, consider assigning a Quick Write to check they’re on the right track and give them feedback on their ideas. Here are some ideas for Quick Writes you could create to support students with pre-writing:
Chekhov, Anton. “The Lady with the Little Dog.” Rpt.
If you want your students to practice specific literary writing skills, check out these prompts from NoRedInk’s assignment library, or click to see the full range of skill-building Quick Write prompts:
The thesis relies on a strong verb (creates).
It takes significant skill to do this competently, condensing the plot of the story, emphasizing key emotions and meanings, all while offering essential commentary or personal perspectives. Charters herself offers insights about how to approach such analysis. Particularly interesting is the section of narrowing ideas to a thesis highlighting the elements of topic and theme, and how an excellent thesis demonstrates a concrete subject followed by a clear predicate, allowing to establish and develop thought in a structured manner (Charters, p. 1076). It is vital to use such instruction in combination with examples from experienced critics to gain a better understanding of this subgenre of literature.
The number of elements can vary from one to four.
The story and analysis which were personally appealing was about What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. It is a common topic of conversation in society and among couples, which inevitably starts as a lighthearted discussion between Mel and Terri, but transitions into a deeply philosophical discussion reflecting Plato’s Symposium. However, it is a theme so relatable but also out of reach of comprehension for most, as the critic highlights in a quotation from the story, “it ought to make us feel ashamed when we talk like we know what we’re talking about when we talk about love” (Saltzman, p. 983). This analysis has the literary qualities of summarizing and relaying the deep meaning and emotions present between individuals when discussing the concept of love. By reading the criticism, one is able to logically follow the pattern of thought while glancing into the thoughts of each of the characters.