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Year 8

Planning a cohesive argument about 'The Tell-Tale Heart'

I can confidently plan a cohesive argument analysing Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’.

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Year 8

Planning a cohesive argument about 'The Tell-Tale Heart'

I can confidently plan a cohesive argument analysing Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Poe shows us how guilt drives the narrator further into insanity and delusion.
  2. Single paragraph outlines are useful for organising your ideas into a coherent structure.
  3. Single paragraph outlines contain a topic sentence, supporting detail and a summary sentence.
  4. Quotations will be needed to support each topic sentence.
  5. A cohesive argument aims to prove one 'big idea'. All your ideas and evidence should work together to prove one idea.

Keywords

  • Delusional - holding irrational or untrue beliefs - in this context, as a result of mental illness.

  • Deranged - unable to think clearly or behave with self-control

  • Heinous - wicked and appalling

  • Irrational - not thinking with logic or reason

  • Cohesive - united and working together effectively to achieve a common goal

Common misconception

Students often think of methods exclusively as 'similes/metaphors' etc.

The writer's method is anything they do consciously. This could be choosing one, single word over another.


To help you plan your year 8 english lesson on: Planning a cohesive argument about 'The Tell-Tale Heart', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

You may wish to get students to consider how a story like this still bears relevance to society today. This could be done as a 'hook' into the lesson or as part of the reflection task in learning cycle 2.
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Teacher tip
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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

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of serious crime
  • Depiction or discussion of mental health issues
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision required

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which two symbols are the focus of the narrator's delusions in 'The Tell-Tell Heart'?
the old man's house
the old man's smile
Correct answer: the old man's eye
the old man's floorboards
Correct answer: the old man's heart
Q2.
What form does Poe's 'The Tell-Tale Heart' take?
long, narrative poem
Correct answer: short story
novel
sonnet poem
Q3.
Which two methods does Poe use in 'The Tell-Tale Heart' to show the narrator's escalating delusion?
Correct answer: short sentences
mirroring
extended metaphor
Correct answer: exclamation marks
reliable protagonist
Q4.
Which language method does Poe use in the following quotation from 'The Tell-Tale Heart': "It grew louder—louder—louder!"?
extended metaphor
personification
simile
Correct answer: repetition
pathetic fallacy
Q5.
Complete the quotation from 'The Tell-Tale Heart': “Villains!” I shrieked, “dissemble no more! I admit the deed!—tear up the planks!—here, here!—It is the beating of his heart!”
Correct Answer: hideous
Q6.
What is the effect of Poe using an unreliable narrator in 'The Tell-Tale Heart'?
It creates a likeable and relatable protagonist for the reader to root for.
Correct answer: It adds an element of mystery because we cannot trust what he says to be true.
Correct answer: It creates tension because we never know what he might do next.
It creates a more Gothic text because Gothic protagonists are always unreliable.
It allows Poe to be more creative with the plot and make it more dynamic.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following words can be used as a synonym for 'insane'?
Correct answer: deranged
rational
Correct answer: deluded
logical
uncomfortable
Q2.
Which piece of vocabulary best describes the narrator's crimes in 'The Tell-Tale Heart'?
abysmal
Correct answer: heinous
logical
justifiable
unfortunate
Q3.
Which of the following does not need to be included in the supporting detail in a paragraph outline?
Correct answer: a plot summary
potential vocabulary you might want to use
quotations from the text
the writer's use of methods
the effects of the writer's use of methods
Q4.
What is Poe's message about guilt in 'The Tell-Tale Heart'?
that guilt is the product of insanity and needs to be processed healthily
Correct answer: that guilt is inescapable and can drive a person to insanity if unresolved
that guilt is a normal human emotion that we must learn to handle
that humans shouldn't have to feel guilt - it is an unnecessary emotion
Q5.
What is the effect of this quotation from 'The Tell-Tale Heart': “It grew louder—louder—louder!”?
The dashes represent the narrator taking deep breaths between each noise.
Correct answer: The repetition shows the persistence of the narrator’s delusions.
Correct answer: “Louder” has two syllables, like a beating heart, so it's almost onomatopoeic.
The simile shows us how overwhelming the sound of the heart beating was.
The exclamation mark shows the narrator's enthusiasm for the noise.
Q6.
What is the effect of this quotation from 'The Tell-Tale Heart': “I foamed—I raved—I swore!”?
"Swore" characterises the narrator as a rude and dislikeable person.
Correct answer: “Foamed” might remind us of a rabid dog - connotations of disease and madness
"Raved" shows how excited the narrator was - e.g "raving" about something
Correct answer: The triple shows the narrator’s escalating panic and stress
The pronoun "I" shows the narrator's selfishness, as he only thinks of himself

Additional material

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