Answer the following thoughtfully and completely, using examples from the story to
prove your points. Please answer completely and in a scholarly manner. One sentence answers are not what I am looking for. Give the page number where you find the answer to each question for full credit.
1. What is the mood at the beginning of the story, and how does Poe create this
mood?
2. Describe the history of the Usher family. What kind of interests do they have?
What type of people are they?
3. Describe Roderick Usher – his appearance, his weaknesses, his attitudes.
4. What happens in the poem, “The Haunted Palace”? What are the parallels
between this poem and the story of the Ushers?
5. Which descriptive details of the interior of the house suggest that the narrator has
entered a realm that is quite different from the ordinary world?
6. In what ways is the appearance of both the interior and exterior of the house
related to Usher’s appearance and to the condition of his mind?
7. Poe chose to characterize Roderick and Madeline as twins, not simply as brother
and sister. Why do you think he made this choice?
8. What evidence is there to support the claim of some critics who have argued that
Madeline and Roderick are actually physical and mental component of the same
being?
(Think about why Roderick buries Madeline alive and what happens after her
internment.)
9. Explore the various meanings of “House of Usher.”