Study Guide Qs for the Pit and the Pendulum – Unit 3 ALH Test – Flashcards
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What is the narrator dreading when the story begins?
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The narrator is dreading his death sentence by the terrifying judges with white lips and mysterious black robes.
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Imagery can be defined as: when an author uses such vivid detail and description that you are able to sense or picture what it is he is describing. How does Poe use imagery in the 1st paragraph?
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The angels and the candles. The black-robed judges with white lips.
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What does the author use to symbolize angels in the 1st paragraph?
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The author uses candles to symbolize angels because light is pure and gives false hope - because the light on candles go out just like when hope is almost lost.
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What does he mean when he speaks of the, "descent of the soul into Hades?"
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The descent is that hell is beneath the surface of the ground. So, it is literally a descent physically and metaphorically. Hades is a symbol of the underground world.
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What does he mean when he says he, "swooned?" What are the two stages that one goes through when recovering from a swoon?
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He had fainted/fallen from extreme emotions dealing with the situation he was in. In the first stage of recovering, we return to mental and spiritual life. In the second stage, we recover our physical senses.In the narrator's opinion, in that first awakening, our minds are still filled with memories of the beyond, that swooning dream state.
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Where is the narrator taken by "tall figures?"
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The tall figures are the guards escorting him to the underground world of hell in silence and stillness.
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What does he see when he first opens his eyes?
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He sees blackness - not knowing what will happen next. He does not know if he's alone or not.
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What are "inquisitorial proceedings?"
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Inquisitorial proceedings is when it is pleasurable to watch those in pain. The judges are taking pleasure in watching the narrator suffer.
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What is the name of the place in which this story is set?
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Spanish inquisition - Catholic Church appointed inquisitors
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How did the narrator begin to examine his cell?
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He thinks that his cell is a tomb. His cell is slimy, wet and cold.
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What caused the narrator to fall prostrate, or lying down, and fall asleep?
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The drugs put damper on his mind and prevented him from being able to think in a proper state of mind.
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How did the narrator discover the pit?
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After he woke up he tried to explore the cell and hit his chin on the side of pit. He had fallen into the pit.
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What was in the water that they gave him? Why do you think that they would have done this?
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The water they gave him was drugged so that they could weaken him even more.
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What was the general shape of his prison cell?
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The general shape of the prison cell was questionable.
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How did the narrator find himself when he awoke this time?
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When he awoke again, the narrator found himself aware and able to open his eyes and stand up. He was still weak though. There was a question of how he would or wouldn't survive.
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What was the painted figure that he saw above him of? What else did he see above him?
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The painted figure above him was of father time. He also sees a pendulum being lowered onto him.
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What allured the rats to him?
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The rats are allured to him because of his food around him. Because of all the food on him, the rats swarmed and chewed off the strap.
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What kind of figurative language is the author using when he compares his heart to "the stealthy pace of a tiger?"
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Personification.
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How did the narrator attract the rats to his bindings?
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The narrator attracts the rats to his bindings by rubbing the meat juice onto them.
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How was the narrator freed? What is the irony of his sudden freedom?
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The narrator is freed by getting the rats to chew him free and when it is almost too late, he bursts from his bonds to freedom, and emphasizes the word "Free" many times until he remembers that his captors will just try another way -- another attempt to kill their conscience. The irony is that the guards will just attempt to kill him some other way.
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How did they next try to kill him?
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They try to kill him by torturing him mentally and physically.
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What happens to the narrator at the conclusion of the story?
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At the end of the story, General Laselle, the leader of the victorious french army saves him.
