A written analysis of 'The Tell-Tale Heart'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can confidently draft, and redraft a written analysis of a literary text.
Key learning points
- It is important to consider the first version of your work a first draft and not the finished essay.
- Redrafting your critical writing is just as important as redrafting your creative writing.
- A clear and concise essay focuses on the writer’s use of methods.
- Successful essays offer a comprehensive explanation and exploration of the effects the writer’s methods.
- Short, embedded quotations make your essay more concise and coherent.
Keywords
Redraft - rewriting your work to improve it
Methods - any conscious choice the writer makes - this could be using a simile or choosing a specific word
Concise - using as few words as possible to express as much meaning as possible
Tentative - not absolute, certain or agreed
Common misconception
Students think that the first version of their work is the finished piece.
Redrafting work improves its quality, depth and coherence. Students should be encouraged to appreciate, and embrace the value of redrafting their work.
Teacher tip
To emphasise the value of redrafting, teachers could live model a third draft of Laura's essay in learning cycle 2, to show how each draft continues to improve the quality of the response.
Equipment
You will need access to the short story 'The Tell-Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe. You can find a copy of this in the additional materials.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of serious crime
Depiction or discussion of mental health issues
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What narrative perspective is 'The Tell-Tale Heart' written from?
Q2.What language method is used in the following quotation from 'The Tell-Tale Heart': "it is the beating of his hideous heart"?
Q3.Complete the quotation from 'The Tell-Tale Heart': "True!—nervous—very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am ...?"
Q4.Which of the following is not an example of the writer's method?
Q5.Complete the quotation from 'The Tell-Tale Heart': "To think that there I was, opening the door, little by little, and he not even to dream of my secret deeds or thoughts. I fairly at the idea".
Q6.Match the key vocabulary up to its definition.
wicked and appaling
to be hidden
to not be of sound mind
horrified and shocked
not based upon logic or reason
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which question word forces you to think about the writer's use of methods?
Q2.Which piece of punctuation does Poe use to show the narrator's escalating delusions in 'The Tell-Tale Heart'?
Q3.If an essay is concise, what does this mean?
Q4.The writer's is any decision that the writer makes consciously.
Q5.Which of the following are examples of embedded quotations?
Q6.What is the effect of this quotation from 'The Tell-Tale Heart': "I gasped for breath—and yet the officers heard it not"?
To help you plan your 8 English lesson on: A written analysis of 'The Tell-Tale Heart', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 8 English lesson on: A written analysis of 'The Tell-Tale Heart', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 English lessons from the A monster within: reading and writing Gothic fiction unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.