“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe



“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe

English 11

Supplementary Material

Check out my website for some pictures and music to go with the story.

During Reading

As you read, use the vocabulary support and exercises below to help you understand the story.

p. 122

insoluble: (adj.) having no solution; unsolvable

annihilate (v.) to destroy completely; wipe out

tarn: (n) a small mountain lake

had admitted of no other than: had required

MS.: an abbreviation of “manuscript”

alleviation: (n.) a decrease in severity; relief

p. 123

deficiency: (n) a lack

collateral issue: relatives not in the direct line of descent

equivocal appellation: ambiguous or unclear name.

After reading the first paragraph on p. 123, summarize what the narrator already knows about Roderick Usher and his family estate.

affinity: (n) a kinship or likeness

specious totality: false appearance of soundness

p. 124

Gothic archway: a doorway topped by an arch with a pointed peak, characteristic of Gothic architecture

phantasmagoric armorial trophies: looming wall decorations bearing coats of arms

trepidation: tremulous fear, alarm, or agitation; perturbation

How does the description of the room contribute to the mystery of the story?

vivacious: (adj.) full of energy; lively

ennuye – bored

cadaverousness: (n) corpselike appearance.S

p. 125

arabesque: intricately interwoven (like the design on an Oriental carpet).

concision: briefness of communication; terseness

malady: illness, sickness

insipid: (adj.) lacking in flavor; bland

but peculiar: only certain

In your own words, sum up Usher’s view of his situation.

p. 126

supposititious: supposed

wanness: paleness

emaciated: excessively thin; wasted away

cataleptical: involving paralysis and unconsciousness; trancelike

What is so startling about the narrator’s first glimpse of Madeline Usher?

futility: uselessness

p. 127

distempered ideality: diseased creativity

sulphurous luster: lurid glow; nightmarish quality

Von Weber: the German romantic composer Karl Maria von Weber

educe: to infer or deduce

Fuseli – the Swiss-born British painter Henry Fuseli, many of whose works feature fantastic or gruesome elements.

What does Usher’s painting suggest to you?

impromptus: musical pieces made up as they are played

p. 128

the tottering of his lofty reason upon her throne: the instability of his mental state

Never seraph… half so fair: no angel ever spread its wing over half as beautiful a structure

porphyrogene: a son born to a ruling king

p. 129

How might the poem parallel Roderick Usher’s situation?

pertinacity: stubbornness

sentience of all vegetable things: consciousness of all growing things

collocation: arrangement

importunate: persistent, annoying

p. 130

“Ververt et Chartreuse” … Pomponius Mela: extravagantly imaginative works of fiction, theology, philosophy, and geography

Vigiliae Mortuorum secundum Chorum Ecclesiae Maguntinae: Latin: Wakes for the Dead, in the Manner of the Choir of the Church of Mainz

interment: burial

sinister countenance of the person whom I met upon the staircase: the evil face of the doctor he met the first day he arrived (remember on p. 124 when he describes the doctor as having a “mingled expression of low cunning and perplexity”? Of course you do!)

donjon-keep – dungeon

What is strange about Madeline’s face as she lies in the coffin? (also, see p. 131)

p. 131

What do you infer about the changes in Usher’s behavior?

couch: bed

fitfully: in an irregular way; unsteadily

incubus: burden

Which of the narrator’s experiences in the Usher mansion might have led to what he “endeavored to believe”?

p. 132

stay: wait

terrestrial: on the ground; earthly

What is the storm like and what is gathering around the house in the storm?

miasma: poisonous vapors

prolixity: tedious length; wordiness

p. 133

to hold parley with: to converse with

obstinate: stubborn

How would you describe the mood of the story after the narrator thinks he hears “the very cracking and ripping sound which Sir Launcelot had so particularly described”?

pesty: poisonous

p. 134

romancer: storyteller

What effect do the passages from the “Mad Trist” have on the events of the story?

narrative: story

What do you predict will happen after the narrator reads about the shield falling to the floor “with a mighty great and terrible ringing sound”?

p. 135

On the basis of what Usher is saying in the first paragraph on this page, what do you expect to happen next?

aghast: overcome with fear; terrified

What happens to Roderick and Madeline Usher?

What happens to the Usher house?

After Reading: Character Analysis

Understanding the characters in this story is very important to understanding the story itself. Use the following information to help you fill out the character analysis charts.

Four Main Methods of Characterization (examples taken from “Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

A. Narrator’s direct comments about the character

1. Example: “Whatever Judy wanted, she went after with the full pressure of her charm. … She simply made men conscious to the highest degree of her physical loveliness”

2. This directly states that Judy used her beauty and charm to get what she wanted.

B. Character’s physical description

1. Example: “She wore a blue gingham dress, rimmed at throat and shoulders with a white edging that accentuated her tan… She was arrestingly beautiful. The color in her cheeks was centered like the color in a picture – it was not a “high” color, but a sort of fluctuating and feverish warmth.”

2. The reader can infer that she is beautiful and that she dresses in a way that shows off her best features. The “feverish” warmth in her cheeks suggests that she might have an energetic and intense personality.

C. The characters own actions, words, thoughts, and feelings.

1. After Judy Jones (of “Winter Dreams”) tries to revive the romance between herself and Dexter, she cries and says, “I’m more beautiful than anybody else, …why can’t I be happy?”

2. Judy’s idea that being the most beautiful should mean she is happy implies that Judy thinks beauty is the key to happiness.

3. When she cries, it suggests that she isn’t used to being rejected, again because her beauty has always gotten her whatever she wants.

D. The actions, words, thoughts and feelings of other characters.

1. In the story, Mr. Sandwood says about Judy: “My God, she’s good-looking!” To which Mr. Hedrick replies: “Good looking! She always looks as if she wanted to be kissed! Turning those big cow-eyes on every calf in town!”

2. These words confirm that Judy is indeed beautiful. When Hedrick mentions Judy “turning those … eyes” on people, the reader again sees how she uses her beauty to manipulate others.

Fill out the following charts on each character. Be sure to fill out at least four items on each character.

|Narrator |

|Method of Characterization |Example or Quote (with page number) |What it shows about character (should be a trait, like |

| | |generous, irrational, etc.) |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

|Roderick Usher |

|Method of Characterization |Example or Quote (with page number) |What it shows about character (should be a trait, like |

| | |generous, irrational, etc.) |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

|Madeline Usher |

|Method of Characterization |Example or Quote (with page number) |What it shows about character (should be a trait, like |

| | |generous, irrational, etc.) |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

|The House of Usher |

|Method of Characterization |Example or Quote (with page number) |What it shows about character (should be a trait, like |

| | |generous, irrational, etc.) |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

Romantic Story Analysis Chart

English 11

Story Title: “The Fall of the House of Usher” Author: Edgar Allan Poe

|Romantic Element |Evidence in this Story |

|Fantasy and Imagination | |

|Love of Nature | |

|Intense Emotion | |

|Sympathetic interest in the past, medieval | |

|Exotic Places | |

|Legends and Myths | |

|Death | |

|Morbid melancholy; insanity | |

|The Supernatural | |

|Failed Love | |

|Mysticism (spiritual intuition beyond ordinary understanding) | |

|Rural Life and the Common Man | |

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