E.A. Poe (1809-1849)

“M.S. Found in a bottle”

First reading.
Understanding the plot.
1. What have you found out about the narrator from the first two paragraphs?
2. What can you say about his education, family and profession?
3. Where was he going to make a voyage to?
4. What did he say about the vessel (ship)?
5. Why did the author describe the weather in such details?
6. What was the weather like? What does this kind of weather usually indicate?
7. What were the narrator’s fears? What was the reaction of the captain?
8. What happened when the narrator went upon the deck about midnight?
9. Who managed to survive?
10. What happened on the fifth day? Why did the narrator describe the sun?
11. How does this description contribute to creating the atmosphere of horror?
12. How did the author create the atmosphere of insane horror? Analyse the paragraph starting with “We waited in vain for the arrival of the sixth day...”
13. Why were they so horrified?
14. The narrator says: “I could not help feeling the utter hopelessness of hope itself”. Comment upon this phrase.
15. What did they suddenly see in the ocean? How was the ship described? Why was she so unusual? Why did she inspire the narrator with horror and astonishment?
16. What in the end happened to their ship? What did the narrator do? Why did he decide to conceal himself? What was the reason? How did he explain it? Will you describe his hiding place?
17. How did the narrator describe the man whom he met on deck? What amazed the narrator most of all?
18. What feeling was he experiencing at that time?
19. Why was “concealment utter folly on the part” of the narrator?
20. How did the narrator discover the name of the ship?
21. What observation did he make upon the structure of the vessel? What did she remind him about?
22. What saying of an old Dutch navigator came to his mind?
23. Read the passage starting with “About an hour ago...” and say what stylistic devices the author uses to describe the appearance of the sailors.
24. What were the crew and the ship according to the narrator doomed to?
25. Analyse the passage concerning the description of the captain. How was he described? What was strange in his portrait?
26. Where did the current lead them to?
27. What was the end of the story? Why did it end so suddenly?
28. Why did the author use the epigraph? Does it reveal the theme of the story?
29. What about the mode of the narration? Is it just a description of what was seen by the narrator or does he include some episodes from his previous life, expressing his feeling and generalizing about his destiny?

Second reading
1. Who is the narrator of the story?
2. What kind of narrator is the author?
3. How did he create the atmosphere of horror and terror?
4. What linguistic means did he use for that?
5. How did the author create suspense in this story? (a sense of unease --- dread --- outright terror)
6. Do we feel very close to the narrator? Why? Why not?
7. Is it true that we know a first-person narrator better than any other character in the story?
8. Try to find some figures of speech already discussed in this story.
9. How limited is the narrator’s point of view in “ MS. Found in a Bottle”?
10. How can you characterize Poe’s style?
11. How does the narration from the first person help to heighten the effect of horror that Poe wishes to produce?
12. What details contribute to the single effect of the story?

“The purloined letter”

First reading.
Understanding the plot.
1. Who is the narrator of the story? What can you say about him?
2. Why did the Prefect come to visit them?
3. What was the matter?
4. Why did the Prefect know that the document had not been disclosed yet?
5. How did it all happen?
6. Analyse the way the Prefect speaks. Does it contribute to creating a character? What kind of person is he?
7. What had already been done by the Prefect to find the letter?
8. Why was the Prefect so sure that the letter was upon the minister’s premises?
9. How well did they search the minister’s apartment?
10. How did Dupin account for his advice to make a thorough re-search of the premises?
11. How much was the offered reward?
12. Why did Dupin ask the Prefect to give him an accurate description of the letter?
13. What was both the narrator’s and the Prefect’s reaction to Dupin’s offer?
14. How did Dupin explain the narrator the Prefect’s mistake?
15. Why did he mention the game “even and odd”?
16. What method did the boy use to identify anything?
17. What kind (mode) of identification was used by the Prefect?
18. What in the Prefect’s story helped Dupin to come to conclusion that the letter was used by the Prefect?
19. Why did Dupin say about the minister: “As poet and mathematician, he would reason well; as mere mathematician, he could not have reasoned at all, and thus would have been at the mercy of the Prefect”?
20. How did Dupin explain the Minister’s behaviour when the Prefect was trying to find the letter?
21. Why was the Minister made to despise all ordinary nooks of concealment?
22. How did Dupin find the letter in the hotel?
23. How did he find out that the letter was turned inside out, re-directed and re-sealed?
24. How did he replace the letter? What was the purpose of replacing the letter?
25. What clue did Dupin give the Minister to identify the person who had outwitted him?

Second reading.
1. Compare the roles and types of narrators in both stories.
2. Who is ‘the real narrator’ in “The Purloined letter”?
3. “The Purloined letter” is composed almost entirely of dialogues with virtually no descriptive writing. What is the effect of using dialogues in the story?
4. Does the absence of descriptive episodes affect the way the characters are presented?
5. What is the tone of the narrator? Give examples to support your answer.
6. Compare the role of the narrators in both stories.

The role of narrators in two stories