Fiction – The Black Cat

QUESTION1: How would you describe an unreliable narrator, given your experience reading these stories? What traits make a narrator unreliable? How does an unreliable narrator shift the plot and themes? Why are unreliable narrators important in literature and what do they represent? Can you think of an unreliable narrator in TV/Movies/Video Games, or other literature?

QUESTION2: The Black Cat is a “frame narrative” because the main character tells the story from his jail cell. The beginning of the “frame” shows that the character is not entirely truthful about the events that lead to the murder of his wife. You may want to re-read the first few paragraphs of the story carefully for contextual support. Number your response 1 – 3. Find 3 quotes that describe the personality of the main character. What ailments and/or issues cause his strange and violent behaviors? What can we determine about the character and the events by profiling him?

QUESTION3:Edgar Allan Poe is a master of suspense and setting. What adds to the suspense and setting of this story? Identify at least 2 attributes and describe them with quotes for support.