Exploring the Text

1. How does Edgar Allan Poe use vivid details and sensory images to describe the opening scene—and especially the house? How does the description contribute to the sense of “insufferable gloom” (par. 1) that the narrator feels?

   Question

   Exploring the Text: - How does Edgar Allan Poe use vivid details and sensory images to describe the opening scene—and especially the house? How does the description contribute to the sense of “insufferable gloom” (par. 1) that the narrator feels?
2. How is Roderick Usher described? What is your impression of him? How does your impression compare with that of the narrator?

   Question

   Exploring the Text: - How is Roderick Usher described? What is your impression of him? How does your impression compare with that of the narrator?
3. For such an important figure in the story, Madeline’s presence is brief. What impression does she make on the reader?

   Question

   Exploring the Text: - For such an important figure in the story, Madeline’s presence is brief. What impression does she make on the reader?
4. What implications for the story do you see in the first stanza of “The Haunted Palace,” one of the “rhapsodies” that Usher sings? What parallels do you see between the poem and the story as a whole?

   Question

   Exploring the Text: - What implications for the story do you see in the first stanza of “The Haunted Palace,” one of the “rhapsodies” that Usher sings? What parallels do you see between the poem and the story as a whole?
5. The narrator states, “Such opinions need no comment, and I will make none” (par. 19). To which opinions does he refer? Why does he make that statement? What does it imply?

   Question

   Exploring the Text: - The narrator states, “Such opinions need no comment, and I will make none” (par. 19). To which opinions does he refer? Why does he make that statement? What does it imply?
6. Why does the narrator assist Usher with the entombment of Madeline? Are there suggestions in the text that she might still be alive at the time? Explain.

   Question

   Exploring the Text: - Why does the narrator assist Usher with the entombment of Madeline? Are there suggestions in the text that she might still be alive at the time? Explain.
7. What parallels do you see between the story as a whole and the tale of Ethelred? How do they contribute to the effectiveness of the story?

   Question

   Exploring the Text: - What parallels do you see between the story as a whole and the tale of Ethelred? How do they contribute to the effectiveness of the story?
8. How do the Usher lineage, the house, and Madeline serve as counterparts to or parallels for Roderick Usher the man? How do those parallels support what you see as the theme of the story?

   Question

   Exploring the Text: - How do the Usher lineage, the house, and Madeline serve as counterparts to or parallels for Roderick Usher the man? How do those parallels support what you see as the theme of the story?
9. Regarding the description of the demise of Madeline and Roderick, modern British writer D. H. Lawrence (p. 1262) writes, “It is lurid and melodramatic, but it is true. It is a ghastly psychological truth of what happens in the last stages of this beloved love, which cannot be separate, cannot be isolate.” Do you agree with Lawrence? Why or why not?

   Question

   Exploring the Text: - Regarding the description of the demise of Madeline and Roderick, modern British writer D. H. Lawrence (p. 1262) writes, “It is lurid and melodramatic, but it is true. It is a ghastly psychological truth of what happens in the last stages of this beloved love, which cannot be separate, cannot be isolate.” Do you agree with Lawrence? Why or why not?
10. What might the fissure represent—the fissure that was “barely perceptible” (par. 5) and “barely discernible” before it “rapidly widened” as the House of Usher—the building itself—was torn asunder at the conclusion of the story (par. 42)?

    Question

    Exploring the Text: - What might the fissure represent—the fissure that was “barely perceptible” (par. 5) and “barely discernible” before it “rapidly widened” as the House of Usher—the building itself—was torn asunder at the conclusion of the story (par. 42)?
11. Ambrose Bierce (p. 875) regarded “The Fall of the House of Usher” as the greatest American short story. What features of the story might account for such a high estimation? Would you agree? Why or why not?

    Question

    Exploring the Text: - Ambrose Bierce (p. 875) regarded “The Fall of the House of Usher” as the greatest American short story. What features of the story might account for such a high estimation? Would you agree? Why or why not?