Law and Order: Edgar Allan Poe

Summary

Students will read "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe. They will analyze the narrators as the narrators see themselves and as the reader sees them. They will then write the script of an interrogation of one of the narrators in the style of a popular TV series. This unit will require 3-5 class periods of 45 minutes.

Objective

Students will improve reading comprehension skills by examining a narrator's words critically.

Indiana Standards 2006 addressed

9.3.9 — Explain how voice and the choice of a narrator affect characterization and the tone, plot, and credibility of a text.

9.5.2 — Write responses to literature that

• demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of the significant ideas of literary works.
• support statements with evidence from the text
• demonstrate an awareness of the author's style and an appreciation of the effects created
• identify and assess the impact of ambiguities, nuances, and complexities within the text.

Procedures/Directions

1. As a prereading activity, ask students to write briefly in answer to this question: how can you tell when someone is lying? After a few minutes encourage students to share their observations first with a partner and then with the whole class.
   
   
2. Point out that writers sometimes create narrators who lie to the reader. We call them "unreliable narrators." Sometimes the reader knows that the narrator is unreliable early in the story, and sometimes the reader doesn't figure it out until later. In this unit we will look at two stories with unreliable narrators. Both stories are by Edgar Allan Poe.
   
   
3. Invite students to read this version of "The Tell-Tale Heart" and to respond to the questions at the end. When the class is ready, discuss the answers.
   
   
4. Invite students to read this version of "The Cask of Amontillado" and to respond to the questions at the end. When the class is ready, discuss the answers.
   
   
5. Use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast the two narrators. A graphic organizer in PDF form is also available.
   
   
6. The popular television program Law and Order often includes an interrogation scene. The suspect and an interrogator are in one room, and a police officer and a public defender in another room watch the proceedings via a two-way mirror and comment on the discussion. Sometimes during this scene a suspect will admit something, but sometimes the police are frustrated with the results.
   
   Another standard Law and Order scene takes place in the courtroom. Many possibilities exist for the courtroom scene: the suspect might make a startling admission during testimony; other evidence might come to light; the criminal gets away with a crime; the jury convicts the right person.
   
   In the next part of this unit, the task is to write the script of either an interrogation scene or a courtroom scene in the style of Law and Order and consistent with what Poe crafted in the story. The suspect will either be the narrator of "The Tell-Tale Heart," who has confessed; or Montresor from "The Cask of Amontillado," who has been brought in for questioning as a 'person of interest' since Fortunato has been reported missing. Let students work in small groups for this task and decide for themselves which story they will work with.
   
   The finished script should meet these requirements:
   • It should have at least 4 characters. Suggest to students writing the interrogation scene that they leave out the stock character, the lawyer who advises the accused to say nothing.
   • Each character must speak at least 3 times, and lines like, "Good morning" don't count.
   • The script must be consistent with the facts Poe presents in the story.
   • The script must be consistent with the legal system as portrayed in Law and Order.
   • The story arc of the script must include a reasonable problem and a reasonable solution, based on the story. For example, will jury believe the narrator of "The Tell-Tale Heart" when he says he is not mad, or will they accept his attorney's insanity defense? Can a police interrogator bluff Montresor into a confession in exchange for a reduced sentence?
   • Deus ex machina is not allowed: no earthquakes or heart attacks can bring the scene to an end without closure.
7. Students will need at least 2 45-minute class periods to craft and revise their scripts. If time permits, each group might act out its script, either in Readers Theater format or as a skit.

Assessment