© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. UNIT 1 UNIT INTRODUCTION UNIT ACTIVITY AND VIDEO ............ 2 LAUNCH TEXT: EXPLANATORY MODEL My Introduction to Gothic Literature ... 6 WHOLE-CLASS LEARNING ANCHOR TEXT: SHORT STORY The Fall of the House of Usher Edgar Allan Poe ................. .13 ANCHOR TEXT: SHORT STORY House Taken Over Julio Cortázar ................... .37 MEDIA: INFORMATIONAL GRAPHIC from How to Tell You’re Reading a Gothic Novel—In Pictures Adam Frost and Zhenia Vasiliev ........ .51 SMALL-GROUP LEARNING SHORT STORY Where Is Here? Joyce Carol Oates .................. .69 MEDIA: PHOTO GALLERY from The Dream Collector Arthur Tress ....................... .83 INTERVIEW Why Do Some Brains Enjoy Fear? Allegra Ringo ...................... .91 POETRY COLLECTION beware: do not read this poem Ishmael Reed ..................... . 102 The Raven Edgar Allan Poe .................. . 104 Windigo Louise Erdrich .................... . 108 PERFORMANCE TASK WRITING FOCUS Write an Explanatory Essay ......... .58 PERFORMANCE TASK SPEAKING AND LISTENING FOCUS Deliver an Explanatory Presentation . . 114 Inside the Nightmare COMPARE TEXT VOLUME ONE viii
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. • Unit Introduction Videos • Media Selections • Modeling Videos • Selection Audio Recordings Additional digital resources can be found in: • Interactive Student Edition • myPerspectives+ INDEPENDENT LEARNING CRITICISM How Maurice Sendak’s “Wild Things” Moved Children’s Books Toward Realism Gloria Goodale EXPLANATORY NONFICTION Sleep Paralysis: A Waking Nightmare SHORT STORY The Feather Pillow Horacio Quiroga, translated by Margaret Sayers Peden NEWSPAPER ARTICLE Stone Age Man’s Terrors Still Stalk Modern Nightmares Robin McKie PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT Explanatory Text: Essay and Informal Talk ............ . 122 UNIT REFLECTION Reflect on the Unit ................ . 125 These selections can be accessed via the Interactive Student Edition. PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT PREP Review Evidence for an Explanatory Essay ............... . 121 ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What is the allure of fear? ix
UNIT © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 2 Outsiders and Outcasts UNIT INTRODUCTION UNIT ACTIVITY AND VIDEO .......... .126 LAUNCH TEXT: ARGUMENT MODEL Isn’t Everyone a Little Bit Weird? .... . 130 WHOLE-CLASS LEARNING ANCHOR TEXT: SHORT STORY The Metamorphosis Franz Kafka, translated by Ian Johnston . . 137 MEDIA: VIDEO Franz Kafka and Metamorphosis BBC Video ....................... . 187 SMALL-GROUP LEARNING SHORT STORY The Doll’s House Katherine Mansfield ............... . 201 POETRY COLLECTION Sonnet, With Bird Sherman Alexie ................... . 214 Elliptical Harryette Mullen .................. . 216 Fences Pat Mora ........................ . 218 ARGUMENT Revenge of the Geeks Alexandra Robbins ................ . 225 LECTURE Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the 21st Century Ryszard Kapuscinski ................ . 233 PERFORMANCE TASK WRITING FOCUS Write an Argument .............. . 190 PERFORMANCE TASK SPEAKING AND LISTENING FOCUS Deliver a Multimedia Presentation . . . 246 VOLUME ONE x
• Unit Introduction Videos • Media Selections • Modeling Videos • Selection Audio Recordings Additional digital resources can be found in: • Interactive Student Edition • myPerspectives+ © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. INDEPENDENT LEARNING MYTH The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog Blackfoot, retold by Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz MEMOIR By Any Other Name from Gifts of Passage Santha Rama Rau NEWSPAPER ARTICLE Outsider’s Art Is Saluted at Columbia, Then Lost Anew Vivian Yee MEDIA: RADIO BROADCAST Fleeing to Dismal Swamp, Slaves and Outcasts Found Freedom Sandy Hausman PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT Argument: Essay and Oral Presentation......... 254 UNIT REFLECTION Reflect on the Unit ................ 257 These selections can be accessed via the Interactive Student Edition. PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT PREP Review Evidence for an Argument . . . 253 ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Do people need to belong? xi
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. UNIT 3 Extending Freedom’s Reach UNIT INTRODUCTION UNIT ACTIVITY AND VIDEO .......... .258 LAUNCH TEXT: INFORMATIVE MODEL Born Free: Children and the Struggle for Human Rights .......... .262 WHOLE-CLASS LEARNING ANCHOR TEXT: SPEECH from The “Four Freedoms” Speech Franklin D. Roosevelt ............ . 269 ANCHOR TEXT: SPEECH Inaugural Address John F. Kennedy ............... . 283 MEDIA: VIDEO Inaugural Address John F. Kennedy .................. . 295 SMALL-GROUP LEARNING SPEECH Speech at the United Nations Malala Yousafzai ................ . 309 MEDIA: INTERVIEW Diane Sawyer Interviews Malala Yousafzai ABC News .................... . 319 POETRY COLLECTION Caged Bird Maya Angelou .................... . 326 Some Advice to Those Who Will Serve Time in Prison Nazim Hikmet, translated by Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk ............ . 328 SHORT STORY The Censors Luisa Valenzuela, translated by David Unger...................... . 337 MEDIA: NEWS ARTICLE from Freedom of the Press Report 2015 Freedom House . . . ................ . 345 PERFORMANCE TASK WRITING FOCUS Write an Informative Essay ........ . 298 PERFORMANCE TASK SPEAKING AND LISTENING FOCUS Deliver a Multimedia Presentation . . . 350 COMPARE TEXT COMPARE VOLUME ONE xii
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. • Unit Introduction Videos • Media Selections • Modeling Videos • Selection Audio Recordings Additional digital resources can be found in: • Interactive Student Edition • myPerspectives+ INDEPENDENT LEARNING MEDIA: INFORMATIONAL TEXT Law and the Rule of Law: The Role of Federal Courts Judicial Learning Center ESSAY Misrule of Law Aung San Suu Kyi SHORT STORY Harrison Bergeron Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. PERSONAL ESSAY Credo: What I Believe Neil Gaiman PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT Informative Text: Essay and Multimedia Presentation . . . 358 UNIT REFLECTION Reflect on the Unit ................ . 361 These selections can be accessed via the Interactive Student Edition. PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT PREP Review Evidence for an Informative Essay ............... . 357 ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What is the relationship between power and freedom? xiii
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. UNIT UNIT INTRODUCTION UNIT ACTIVITY AND VIDEO .......... .362 LAUNCH TEXT: INFORMATIVE MODEL I Came, I Saw, I Shopped ........... . 366 WHOLE-CLASS LEARNING ANCHOR TEXT: SHORT STORY The Necklace Guy de Maupassant, translated by Andrew MacAndrew................ . 373 ANCHOR TEXT: SHORT STORY Civil Peace Chinua Achebe ................... . 389 MEDIA: PHOTO ESSAY Fit for a King: Treasures of Tutankhamun ......... . 403 SMALL-GROUP LEARNING NEWS ARTICLE In La Rinconada, Peru, Searching for Beauty in Ugliness Marie Arana ...................... . 419 POETRY COLLECTION Avarice Yusef Komunyakaa ................ . 432 The Good Life Tracy K. Smith .................... . 434 Money Reginald Gibbons ................. . 435 SHORT STORY The Golden Touch Nathaniel Hawthorne ............ . 443 POETRY from King Midas Howard Moss .................. . 461 MAGAZINE ARTICLE The Thrill of the Chase Margie Goldsmith ................. . 471 PERFORMANCE TASK WRITING FOCUS Write an Informative Essay ........ . 408 PERFORMANCE TASK SPEAKING AND LISTENING FOCUS Present an Informative Essay ...... . 480 4 All That GlittersCOMPARE VOLUME TWO xiv
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. • Unit Introduction Videos • Media Selections • Modeling Videos • Selection Audio Recordings Additional digital resources can be found in: • Interactive Student Edition • myPerspectives+ INDEPENDENT LEARNING MEDIA: INFORMATIONAL GRAPHIC The Gold Series: A History of Gold Visual Capitalist NEWS ARTICLE Ads May Spur Unhappy Kids to Embrace Materialism Amy Norton SHORT STORY A Dose of What the Doctor Never Orders Ihara Saikaku, translated by G. W. Sargent MAGAZINE ARTICLE My Possessions, Myself Russell W. Belk NEWS ARTICLE Heirlooms’ Value Shifts from Sentiment to Cash Rosa Salter Rodriguez PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT Informative Text: Essay and Oral Presentation ........ . 488 UNIT REFLECTION Reflect on the Unit ................ . 491 These selections can be accessed via the Interactive Student Edition. PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT PREP Review Evidence for an Informative Essay ............... . 487 ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What do our possessions reveal about us? xv
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. UNIT UNIT INTRODUCTION UNIT ACTIVITY AND VIDEO .......... .492 LAUNCH TEXT: ARGUMENT MODEL Neither Justice Nor Forgetting: Defining Forgiveness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .496 WHOLE-CLASS LEARNING ANCHOR TEXT: DRAMA Literature and Culture............ . 502 The Tempest William Shakespeare Act I ......................... . 510 Act II ........................ . 535 Act III ........................ . 555 Act IV........................ . 573 Act V ........................ . 587 MEDIA CONNECTION: Dressing “The Tempest” Slide Show, The New York Times ANCHOR TEXT: POETRY COLLECTION 1 En El Jardín de los Espejos Quebrados, Caliban Catches a Glimpse of His Reflection Virgil Suárez ................... . 606 Caliban J. P. Dancing Bear............... . 608 SMALL-GROUP LEARNING POETRY COLLECTION 2 They are hostile nations Margaret Atwood ................. . 626 Under a Certain Little Star Wisława Syzmborska, translated by Joanna Trzeciak ................... . 628 SPEECH Let South Africa Show the World How to Forgive Desmond Tutu .................... . 635 PERFORMANCE TASK WRITING FOCUS Write an Argument .............. . 614 PERFORMANCE TASK SPEAKING AND LISTENING FOCUS Present an Argument ............ . 644 5 Virtue and Vengeance COMPARE VOLUME TWO xvi
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. • Unit Introduction Videos • Media Selections • Modeling Videos • Selection Audio Recordings Additional digital resources can be found in: • Interactive Student Edition • myPerspectives+ INDEPENDENT LEARNING REFLECTIVE ESSAY The Sun Parlor Dorothy West MEDIA: WEB ARTICLE The Forgiveness Project: Eric Lomax The Forgiveness Project BOOK REVIEW A Dish Best Served Cold Aminatta Forna CRITICISM from Shakespeare and the French Poet Yves Bonnefoy, translated by John Naughton FOLKTALE What We Plant, We Will Eat retold by S. E. Schlosser INFORMATIONAL TEXT Understanding Forgiveness PBS PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT Argument: Essay and Informal Speech ......... . 652 UNIT REFLECTION Reflect on the Unit ................ . 655 These selections can be accessed via the Interactive Student Edition. PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT PREP Review Evidence for an Argument................... . 651 ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What motivates us to forgive? xvii
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. UNIT UNIT INTRODUCTION UNIT ACTIVITY .................... .656 LAUNCH TEXT: NONFICTION NARRATIVE Just Six Dots: The Story of Braille .... . 660 WHOLE-CLASS LEARNING ANCHOR TEXT: DRAMA Literature and Culture .............. . 666 Oedipus the King, Part I Sophocles, translated by Nicholas Rudall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 674 Oedipus the King, Part II Sophocles, translated by Nicholas Rudall ................... . 708 MEDIA CONNECTION: Oedipus the King SMALL-GROUP LEARNING LETTER View From the Empire State Building Helen Keller ...................... . 739 POETRY COLLECTION Blind Fatima Naoot, translated by Kees Nijland...................... . 748 The Blind Seer of Ambon W. S. Merwin ..................... . 750 On His Blindness Jose Luis Borges, translated by Robert Mezey .......................... . 752 SHORT STORY The Country of the Blind H. G. Wells ....................... . 759 MEMOIR The Neglected Senses from For the Benefit of Those Who See Rosemary Mahoney ................ . 787 PERFORMANCE TASK WRITING FOCUS Write a Nonfiction Narrative ....... . 728 PERFORMANCE TASK SPEAKING AND LISTENING FOCUS Present an Oral Retelling ......... . 802 6 Blindness and Sight VOLUME TWO xviii
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. • Unit Introduction Videos • Media Selections • Modeling Videos • Selection Audio Recordings Additional digital resources can be found in: • Interactive Student Edition • myPerspectives+ INDEPENDENT LEARNING NOVEL EXCERPT from Blindness José Saramago, translated by Giovanni Pontiero MEDIA: NEWSCAST Dr. Geoffrey Tabin Helps Blind Ethiopians Gain Sight ABC News MEDIA: INFORMATIONAL GRAPHIC How Your Eyes Trick Your Mind Melissa Hogenboom SCIENCE ARTICLE Blind, Yet Seeing: The Brain’s Subconscious Visual Sense Benedict Carey ORAL HISTORY Experience: I First Saw My Wife 10 Years After We Married Shander Herian SCIENCE ARTICLE Visual Neuroscience: Look and Learn Apoorva Mandavilli These selections can be accessed via the Interactive Student Edition. PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT Narrative: Nonfiction Narrative and Storytelling Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 810 UNIT REFLECTION Reflect on the Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 813 PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT PREP Review Notes for a Nonfiction Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 809 ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What does it mean to see? xix
UNIT 1 Spooky Business: American Economy Discuss It Why is Halloween big business? Write your response before sharing your ideas. Spine-tingling movies, books, and experiences are everywhere. What draws us to explore—and to enjoy—frightening themes? Inside the Nightmare © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 2
UNIT 1 SHORT STORY The Feather Pillow Horacio Quiroga, translated by Margaret Sayers Peden CRITICISM How Maurice Sendak’s “Wild Things” Moved Children’s Books Toward Realism Gloria Goodale SHORT STORY Where Is Here? Joyce Carol Oates MEDIA: PHOTO GALLERY from The Dream Collector Arthur Tress INTERVIEW Why Do Some Brains Enjoy Fear? Allegra Ringo POETRY COLLECTION beware: do not read this poem Ishmael Reed The Raven Edgar Allan Poe Windigo Louise Erdrich EXPLANATORY NONFICTION Sleep Paralysis: A Waking Nightmare NEWSPAPER ARTICLE Stone Age Man’s Terrors Still Stalk Modern Nightmares Robin McKie PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT PREP Review Evidence for an Explanatory Essay PERFORMANCE TASK SPEAKING AND LISTENING FOCUS: Deliver an Explanatory Presentation PERFORMANCE TASK WRITING FOCUS: Write an Explanatory Essay COMPARE MEDIA: INFORMATIONAL GRAPHIC from How to Tell You’re Reading a Gothic Novel—In Pictures Adam Frost and Zhenia Vasiliev LAUNCH TEXT EXPLANATORY MODEL My Introduction to Gothic Literature UNIT INTRODUCTION WHOLE-CLASS LEARNING ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What is the allure of fear? SMALL-GROUP LEARNING Explanatory Text: Essay and Informal Talk PROMPT: In what ways does transformation play a role in stories meant to scare us? PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT ANCHOR TEXT: SHORT STORY The Fall of the House of Usher Edgar Allan Poe ANCHOR TEXT: SHORT STORY House Taken Over Julio Cortázar INDEPENDENT LEARNING © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 3
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. SCALE UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 3 4 5 NOT AT ALL NOT VERY SOMEWHAT VERY EXTREMELY WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL READING GOALS • Evaluate written narratives by analyzing how authors introduce and develop the events in their writing. • Expand your knowledge and use of academic and concept vocabulary. WRITING AND RESEARCH GOALS • Write an explanatory essay in which you use a narrative as evidence for your main idea. Apply your knowledge of texts in theunit. • Conduct research projects of various lengths to explore a topic and clarify meaning. LANGUAGE GOAL • Use fgurative language, connotation, and denotation to convey meaning and add variety and interest to your writing and presentations. SPEAKING AND LISTENING GOALS • Collaborate with your team to build on the ideas of others, develop consensus, and communicate. • Integrate audio, visuals, and text in presentations. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 Unit Goals Throughout this unit, you will deepen your understanding of scary literature by reading, writing, speaking, presenting, and listening. These goals will help you succeed on the Unit Performance-Based Assessment. Rate how well you meet these goals right now. You will revisit your ratings later when you reflect on your growth during this unit. STANDARDS Language 9-10.L.VAU.6 Acquire and accurately use general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the postsecondary and workforce readiness level; demonstrate independence in building vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression. 4 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What is the allure of fear? WORD MENTOR SENTENCES PREDICT MEANING RELATED WORDS motivate ROOT: -mot- “move” 1. A mentor should try to motivate a student to perform well. 2. What might motivate a character to do something so deceitful? motivation; unmotivated dimension ROOT: -mens- “measure” 1. We have to consider every dimension of the problem before we can solve it. 2. That classic TV show told stories that explored another dimension of time, space, and imagination. manipulate ROOT: -man- “hand” 1. We watch as the sculptors manipulate the clay with great skill and speed. 2. People often become defensive when they believe others are trying to manipulate them. psychological ROOT: -psych- “mind”; “spirit” 1. The director’s new film is a psychological thriller, and I found it extremely suspenseful. 2. The psychological effects of fear can last a long time. perspective ROOT: -spec- “look”; “see” 1. The narrator’s perspective was limited and left readers wondering what other characters thought. 2. Living in another part of the country helped to broaden my perspective on the world. Academic Vocabulary: Explanatory Text Academic terms appear in all subjects and can help you read, write, and discuss with more precision. Here are five academic words that will be useful to you in this unit as you analyze and write explanatory texts. Complete the chart. 1. Review each word, its root, and the mentor sentences. 2. Use the information and your own knowledge to predict the meaning of each word. 3. For each word, list at least two related words. 4. Refer to a dictionary or other resources if needed. FOLLOW THROUGH Study the words in this chart and mark them or their forms wherever they appear in the unit. As you come across unfamiliar words in this unit, build your vocabulary knowledge by predicting meaning. Confirm definitions by referring to a dictionary. Unit Introduction 5
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES How does someone fall in love with a particular kind of writing or an author who has long departed this life? What draws us to find in words the echoes of our own fears or longings? For those of us lucky enough to have a literary passion, the story of how we met our first love is probably just like tales of other first meetings—funny or quirky, full of accident and coincidence. My literary passion is Edgar Allan Poe, and I met him—in print—when I was fourteen years old. It was just after a huge storm that had featured an alarmingly beautiful display of lightning and wind. The power had been knocked out, and I was sitting at a window, watching the wet night grow darker. I had been living with my grandmother for a few weeks while my parents “figured things out.” I loved my grandmother, but I couldn’t shake the sadness and anxiety I was feeling. The storm had been a welcome diversion. As the clouds cleared, a fog rose and filtered the moonlight, casting a bluish hue over the yard. The scene was moody and solemn, but beautiful. My grandmother broke my reverie by bustling into the room, carrying two lit candles and a book. “It’ll take hours for the electric company to get all the way out here to fix the power,” she said. “Why don’t you read? I’ll go find some batteries for the flashlights.” She set the book and a candle on the floor, and rushed out as though she had to catch the batteries before they fled. I picked up the book she had left on the floor. It was a collection of old stories—just a paperback and not much to look at. I turned to one by 1 2 3 UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION LAUNCH TEXT | EXPLANATORY MODEL My Introduction to Gothic Literature This selection is an example of an explanatory essay. In this example, the writer includes narrative, or storytelling, elements to help explain a topic. This is the typeof writing you will developin the Performance-Based Assessment at the end of the unit. As you read, look at the way the writer includes both explanatory and narrative elements to convey ideas. What important details does the writer include to convey information in a vivid way? 6 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE
! WORD NETWORK FOR THE LITERATURE OF FEAR Vocabulary A Word Network is a collection of words related to a topic. As you read the selections in this unit, identify interesting words related to the idea of fear, and add them to your Word Network. For example, you might begin by adding words from the Launch Text, such as unhinged, vault, and revenge. Continue to add words as you complete the unit. Tool Kit Word Network Model © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What is the allure of fear? NOTES Poe—“The Cask of Amontillado.” Set during the carnival season in an unnamed European city, the story features an unhinged narrator named Montresor who plots revenge on an acquaintance. I liked the gruesome setting of a mysterious burial vault. In Poe’s descriptions, I could practically smell the dust and mold. And I was stunned by the horrible ending. But what struck me most was how Montresor spoke directly to the reader—to me. He expected my sympathy as he brought his terrible revenge. Up to that point, all the stories I had ever read had set the criminal or lunatic at a distance. They didn’t draw me into a mind that was a truly scary place to be. This one did. I finished Poe’s story and turned to another. My grandmother came back with a flashlight, and I kept reading. There were more stories by Poe and others by authors whom I had never heard of but who came to feel like friends—Amelia B. Edwards, Horace Walpole, Ann Radcliffe. I later learned that these stories were part of the Gothic tradition, but I didn’t care about that. I fell into them and was carried away, like someone swimming in a river. In all of them, characters were driven by intense emotions of love or hate or jealousy. Some featured ghosts or monsters, but others featured regular people whose sorrow made them ghostly or monstrous. They were tales full of darkness and light, just like the storm I had enjoyed with its thunder and lightning. They were stories that made all I felt and feared seem less of a burden. That evening spent in darkness both real and imaginary never left me. The stories helped me understand that life is not easy and people are complex—simultaneously strong and weak, wonderful and terrible. Though I could not articulate it then, I can now: The stories helped me see that life can be a mansion full of secrets and dark passages, but also of beauty and light. They helped me choose to embrace it all. After another week at my grandmother’s, I went home, armed with stories to see me through whatever might come. 4 5 FEAR revenge vault unhinged My Introduction to Gothic Literature 7
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Launch Activity Conduct a Horror-Story Election Consider this question: Which character is the best horror-story hero? • Form two “parties” to gather and choose candidates for an election. You will be voting on the best horror-story “hero.” In this case, the heroes are the monsters and other villains. • With your party, discuss the main characters from horror stories with which you are familiar. Include characters from movies and television, as well as books. When you feel you have discussed the characters thoroughly, nominate a candidate who will represent your party in a whole-class election. • Choose a party member to deliver the campaign speech telling why your candidate is the best horror-story “hero.” • After both campaign speeches have been delivered, hold a class election. Then, tally the votes for each candidate. If you vote against your own party, be ready to explain why. UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION Summary A summary, or an objective summary, is a concise, complete, and accurate overview of a text, including only the main points or important ideas. It should not include a statement of your opinion or an analysis. A critical summary provides the essential information in a text, but it also includes some commentary or evaluation of the work. Write an objective summary of “My Introduction to Gothic Literature.” STANDARDS 9-10.RI.KID.2 Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development; provide an objective or critical summary. 8 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What is the allure of fear? ! EVIDENCE LOG FOR INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE Review your QuickWrite. Summarize your initial position in one sentence to record in your Evidence Log. Then, record evidence from “My Introduction to Gothic Literature” that supports your position. Prepare for the PerformanceBased Assessment at the end of the unit by completing the Evidence Log after each selection. Tool Kit Evidence Log Model QuickWrite Consider class discussions, presentations, the video, and the Launch Text as you think about the prompt. Record your first thoughts here. PROMPT: In what ways does transformation play a role in stories meant to scare us? Title of Text: Date: CONNECTION TO PROMPT TEXT EVIDENCE/DETAILS ADDITIONAL NOTES/IDEAS How does this text change or add to my thinking? Date: Unit Introduction 9
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. OVERVIEW: WHOLE-CLASS LEARNING STRATEGY ACTION PLAN Listen actively • Eliminate distractions. For example, put your cellphone away. • Keep your eyes on the speaker. • Clarify by asking questions • If you’re confused, other people probably are, too. Ask a question to help your whole class. • If you see that you are guessing, ask a question instead. • Monitor understanding • Notice what information you already know, and be ready to build on it. • Ask for help if you are struggling. • Interact and share ideas • Share your ideas and answer questions, even if you are unsure. • Build on the ideas of others by adding details or making a connection. • ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What is the allure of fear? What is it that draws us to visit haunted houses on Halloween and read stories that keep us up all night startled by every strange noise we hear? The allure of fear is a powerful attraction. Similarly, the concept of “scary but fun” appeals to many ofus. The selections you will read offer insight into why people enjoy stories that put them on the edges of their seats. Whole-Class Learning Strategies Throughout your life, in school, in your community, and in your career, you will continue to learn and work in large-group environments. Review these strategies and the actions you can take to practice them as you work with your whole class. Add ideasofyour own for each step. Get ready to use these strategies during Whole-Class Learning. 10 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. CONTENTS MEDIA: INFORMATIONAL GRAPHIC from How to Tell You’re Reading a Gothic Novel—In Pictures Adam Frost and Zhenia Vasiliev If the book you’re reading has a mansion that has been in the family for years and at least one creepy character—congratulations! You’re likely reading a Gothic novel. ANCHOR TEXT: SHORT STORY The Fall of the House of Usher Edgar Allan Poe In this famous Gothic tale, a visitor arrives at an old friend’s home and realizes that some irrational fears might turn out to be justified. ANCHOR TEXT: SHORT STORY House Taken Over Julio Cortázar A brother and sister live in the old family home, but strange events begin to push them out. PERFORMANCE TASK WRITING FOCUS Write an Explanatory Text Both Whole-Class readings involve dark, ominous settings that are full of mysterious, unexplained forces. The informational graphic describes the elements of Gothic literature. After reading, you will write an explanatory essay about portrayals of fear and reason in these selections. COMPARE 1 Overview: Whole-Class Learning 11
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. MAKING MEANING NOTICE whom the story is about, what happens, where and when it happens, and why those involved react as theydo. CONNECT ideas within the selection to what you already know and what you have already read. ANNOTATE by marking vocabulary and key passages you want to revisit. RESPOND by completing the Comprehension Check. The Fall of the House of Usher Concept Vocabulary You will encounter the following words as you read “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Before reading, note how familiar you are with each word. Rank the words in order from most familiar (1) to least familiar (6). After completing the first read, come back to the concept vocabulary and review your rankings. Mark changes to your original rankings as needed. First Read FICTION Apply these strategies as you conduct your first read. You will have an opportunity to complete the close-read notes after your first read. Comparing Texts In this lesson, you will read and compare two stories: “The Fall of the House of Usher,” by Edgar Allan Poe, and “House Taken Over,” by Julio Cortázar. First, you will complete the first-read and close-read activities for Poe’s story. Then, you will compare that story to the story Cortázar wrote a little more than a century later. About the Author Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) is regarded as the first American literary critic and the inventor of the detective story. Despite his literary success, Poe’s life was almost as dark and dismal as the fiction he wrote. Shortly after his birth, his father deserted the family, and his mother died. He was raised by a wealthy yet miserly merchant and lived most of his adult life in extreme poverty. Poe died at the age of40. The circ*mstances of hisdeath remain a mystery. WORD YOUR RANKING annihilate antiquity fissure dissolution rending tumultuous THE FALL OF THE HOUSE HOUSE TAKEN OVER OF USHER Tool Kit First-Read Guide and ModelAnnotation STANDARDS Reading Literature 9.RL.RRTC.9 Read and comprehend a variety of literature throughout the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with a gradual release of scaffolding at the higher end as needed. 12 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES BACKGROUND In this story, Edgar Allan Poe shows his sympathy for the Romantic movement, which was at its height in Europe when he was writing, in the early nineteenth century. The Romantics explored themes of love and death, often with an intense interest in human psychology. For Poe, the darkest aspects of the mind and heart were most revealing of what it means to be human. During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was—but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment, with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate 1 ANCHOR TEXT | SHORT STORY Edgar Allan Poe The Fall of the House of Usher terrible The Fall of the House of Usher 13
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES or terrible. I looked upon the scene before me—upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain—upon the bleak walls—upon the vacant eyelike windows—upon a few rank sedges1 —and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees—with an utter depression of soul, which I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveler upon opium—the bitter lapse into everyday life—the hideous dropping off of the veil. There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart—an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught2 of the sublime. What was it—I paused to think—what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of the House of Usher? It was a mystery all insoluble; nor could I grapple with the shadowy fancies that crowded upon me as I pondered. I was forced to fall back upon the unsatisfactory conclusion, that while, beyond doubt, there are combinations of very simple natural objects which have the power of thus affecting us, still the analysis of this power lies among considerations beyond our depth. It was possible, I reflected, that a mere different arrangement of the particulars of the scene, of the details of the picture, would be sufficient to modify, or perhaps to annihilate its capacity for sorrowful impression; and, acting upon this idea, I reined my horse to the precipitous brink of a black and lurid tarn3 that lay in unruffled luster by the dwelling, and gazed down—but with a shudder even more thrilling than before—upon the remodeled and inverted images of the gray sedge, and the ghastly tree-stems, and the vacant and eyelike windows. Nevertheless, in this mansion of gloom I now proposed to myself a sojourn of some weeks. Its proprietor, Roderick Usher, had been one of my boon companions in boyhood; but many years had elapsed since our last meeting. A letter, however, had lately reached me in a distant part of the country—a letter from him—which, in its wildly importunate nature, had admitted of no other than a personal reply. The MS4 gave evidence of nervous agitation. The writer spoke of acute bodily illness—of a mental disorder which oppressed him—and of an earnest desire to see me, as his best and indeed his only personal friend, with a view of attempting, by the cheerfulness of my society, some alleviation of his malady. It was the manner in which all this, and much more, was said—it was the apparent heart that went with his request—which allowed me no room for hesitation; and I accordingly obeyed forthwith what I still considered a very singular summons. Although, as boys, we had been even intimate associates, yet I really knew little of my friend. His reserve had been always excessive and habitual. I was aware, however, that his very ancient family had been noted, time out of mind, for a peculiar sensibility 1. sedges n. grasslike plants. 2. aught (awt) n. anything. 3. tarn n. small lake. 4. MS abbr. manuscript; document written by hand. annihilate (uh NY uh layt) v. destroy completely 2 3 CLOSE READ ANNOTATE: Mark words and phrases in paragraph 1 that refer to the imagination or altered reality, and others that refer to falling or sinking. QUESTION: What is happening to the narrator as he looks at the house? CONCLUDE: What is the effect of these strong descriptive details? 14 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES of temperament, displaying itself, through long ages, in many works of exalted art, and manifested, of late, in repeated deeds of munificent yet unobtrusive charity, as well as in a passionate devotion to the intricacies, perhaps even more than to the orthodox and easily recognizable beauties, of musical science. I had learned, too, the very remarkable fact, that the stem of the Usher race, all time-honored as it was, had put forth, at no period, any enduring branch: in other words, that the entire family lay in the direct line of descent, and had always, with very trifling and very temporary variation, so lain. It was this deficiency, I considered, while running over in thought the perfect keeping of the character of the premises with the accredited character of the people, and while speculating upon the possible influence which the one, in the long lapse of centuries, might have exercised upon the other—it was this deficiency, perhaps of collateral issue,5 and the consequent undeviating transmission, from sire to son, of the patrimony6 with the name, which had, at length, so identified the two as to merge the original title of the estate in the quaint and equivocal appellation of the “House of Usher”—an appellation which seemed to include, in the minds of the peasantry who used it, both the family and the family mansion. I have said that the sole effect of my somewhat childish experiment—that of looking down within the tarn—had been to deepen the first singular impression. There can be no doubt that the consciousness of the rapid increase of my superstition—for why should I not so term it?—served mainly to accelerate the increase itself. Such, I have long known, is the paradoxical law of all sentiments having terror as a basis. And it might have been for this reason only, that, when I again uplifted my eyes to the house itself, from its image in the pool, there grew in my mind a strange fancy—a fancy so ridiculous, indeed, that I but mention it to show the vivid force of the sensations which oppressed me. I had so worked upon my imagination as really to believe that about the whole mansion and domain there hung an atmosphere peculiar to themselves and their immediate vicinity—an atmosphere which had no affinity with the air of heaven, but which had reeked up from the decayed trees, and the gray wall, and the silent tarn—a pestilent and mystic vapor, dull, sluggish, faintly discernible, and leaden-hued. Shaking off from my spirit what must have been a dream, I scanned more narrowly the real aspect of the building. Its principal feature seemed to be that of an excessive antiquity. The discoloration of ages had been great. Minute fungi overspread the whole exterior, hanging in a fine tangled web-work from the eaves. Yet all this was apart from any extraordinary dilapidation. No portion of the masonry had fallen; and there appeared to be 5. of collateral issue descended from the same ancestors but in a different line. 6. patrimony (PA truh moh nee) n. property inherited from one’s father. 4 5 antiquity (an TIHK wuh tee) n. very great age The Fall of the House of Usher 15
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES a wild inconsistency between its still perfect adaptation of parts, and the crumbling condition of the individual stones. In this there was much that reminded me of the specious totality of old woodwork which has rotted for long years in some neglected vault, with no disturbance from the breath of the external air. Beyond this indication of extensive decay, however, the fabric gave little token of instability. Perhaps the eye of a scrutinizing observer might have discovered a barely perceptible fissure, which, extending from the roof of the building in front, made its way down the wall in a zigzag direction, until it became lost in the sullen waters of the tarn. Noticing these things, I rode over a short causeway to the house. A servant in waiting took my horse, and I entered the Gothic7 archway of the hall. A valet, of stealthy step, thence conducted me, in silence, through many dark and intricate passages in my progress to the studio of his master. Much that I encountered on the way contributed, I know not how, to heighten the vague sentiments of which I have already spoken. While the objects around me—while the carvings of the ceilings, the somber tapestries of the walls, the ebon blackness of the floors, and the phantasmagoric8 armorial trophies which rattled as I strode, were but matters to which, or to such as which, I had been accustomed from my infancy—while I hesitated not to acknowledge how familiar was all this—I still wondered to find how unfamiliar were the fancies which ordinary images were stirring up. On one of the staircases, I met the physician of the family. His countenance, I thought, wore a mingled expression of low cunning and perplexity. He accosted me with trepidation and passed on. The valet now threw open a door and ushered me into the presence of his master. The room in which I found myself was very large and lofty. The windows were long, narrow, and pointed, and at so vast a distance from the black oaken floor as to be altogether inaccessible from within. Feeble gleams of encrimsoned light made their way through the trellised panes, and served to render sufficiently distinct the more prominent objects around; the eye, however, struggled in vain to reach the remoter angles of the chamber, or the recesses of the vaulted and fretted9 ceiling. Dark draperies hung upon the walls. The general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered. Many books and musical instruments lay scattered about, but failed to give any vitality to the scene. I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow. An air of stern, deep, and irredeemable gloom hung over and pervaded all. Upon my entrance, Usher arose from a sofa on which he had been lying at full length, and greeted me with a vivacious warmth which had much in it, I at first thought, of an overdone 7. Gothic adj. high and ornate. 8. phantasmagoric (fan taz muh GAWR ihk) adj. fantastic or dreamlike. 9. fretted adj. ornamented with a pattern of small, straight, intersecting bars. fissure (FIHSH uhr) n. long, narrow crack or opening 6 7 8 16 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES cordiality—of the constrained effort of the ennuyé10 man of the world. A glance, however, at his countenance convinced me of his perfect sincerity. We sat down; and for some moments, while he spoke not, I gazed upon him with a feeling half of pity, half of awe. Surely, man had never before so terribly altered, in so brief a period, as had Roderick Usher! It was with difficulty that I could bring myself to admit the identity of the wan being before me with the companion of my early boyhood. Yet the character of his face had been at all times remarkable. A cadaverousness11 of complexion; an eye large, liquid, and luminous beyond comparison; lips somewhat thin and very pallid, but of a surpassingly beautiful curve; a nose of a delicate Hebrew model, but with a breadth of nostril unusual in similar formations; a finely molded chin, speaking, in its want of prominence, of a want of moral energy; hair of a more than weblike softness and tenuity— these features, with an inordinate expansion above the regions of the temple, made up altogether a countenance not easily to be forgotten. And now in the mere exaggeration of the prevailing character of these features, and of the expression they were wont to convey, lay so much of change that I doubted to whom I spoke. The now ghastly pallor of the skin, and the now miraculous luster of the eye, above all things startled and even awed me. The silken hair, too, had been suffered to grow all unheeded, and as, in its wild gossamer12 texture, it floated rather than fell about the face, I could not, even with effort, connect its Arabesque13 expression with any idea of simple humanity. In the manner of my friend I was at once struck with an incoherence—an inconsistency; and I soon found this to arise from a series of feeble and futile struggles to overcome an habitual trepidancy—an excessive nervous agitation. For something of this nature I had indeed been prepared, no less by his letter, than by reminiscences of certain boyish traits, and by conclusions deduced from his peculiar physical conformation and temperament. His action was alternately vivacious and sullen. His voice varied rapidly from a tremulous indecision (when the animal spirits seemed utterly in abeyance) to that species of energetic concision—that abrupt, weighty, unhurried, and hollow-sounding enunciation—that leaden, self-balanced, and perfectly modulated guttural utterance, which may be observed in the lost drunkard, or the irreclaimable eater of opium, during the periods of his most intense excitement. It was thus that he spoke of the object of my visit, of his earnest desire to see me, and of the solace he expected me to afford him. He entered, at some length, into what he conceived to be the nature of his malady. It was, he said, a constitutional and a family evil, and one 10. ennuyé (on wee AY) adj. French for “bored.” 11. cadaverousness (kuh DAV uhr uhs nihs) n. quality of being like a dead body. 12. gossamer (GOS uh muhr) adj. very delicate and light, like a cobweb. 13. Arabesque (ar uh BEHSK) adj. of complex and elaborate design. 9 10 CLOSE READ ANNOTATE: Mark details in paragraph 8 that relate to the absence of color and force. QUESTION: What portrait of Usher do these details create? CONCLUDE: What does this portrayal of Usher help the reader understand? The Fall of the House of Usher 17
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES for which he despaired to find a remedy—a mere nervous affection,14 he immediately added, which would undoubtedly soon pass off. It displayed itself in a host of unnatural sensations. Some of these, as he detailed them, interested and bewildered me; although, perhaps, the terms and the general manner of the narration had their weight. He suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the senses; the most insipid food was alone endurable; he could wear only garments of certain texture; the odors of all flowers were oppressive; his eyes were tortured by even a faint light; and there were but peculiar sounds, and these from stringed instruments, which did not inspire him with horror. To an anomalous species of terror I found him a bounden slave. “I shall perish:” said he, “I must perish in this deplorable folly. Thus, thus, and not otherwise, shall I be lost. I dread the events of the future, not in themselves, but in their results. I shudder at the thought of any, even the most trivial, incident, which may operate upon this intolerable agitation of soul. I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect—in terror. In this unnerved, in this pitiable, condition I feel that the period will sooner or later arrive when I must abandon life and reason together, in some struggle with the grim phantasm, fear.” 14. affection n. affliction; illness. 11 18 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES I learned, moreover, at intervals, and through broken and equivocal hints, another singular feature of his mental condition. He was enchained by certain superstitious impressions in regard to the dwelling which he tenanted, and whence, for many years, he had never ventured forth—in regard to an influence whose supposititious15 force was conveyed in terms too shadowy here to be restated—an influence which some peculiarities in the mere form and substance of his family mansion, had, by dint of long sufferance, he said, obtained over his spirit—an effect which the physique of the gray walls and turrets, and of the dim tarn into which they all looked down, had at length, brought about upon the morale of his existence. He admitted, however, although with hesitation, that much of the peculiar gloom which thus afflicted him could be traced to a more natural and far more palpable origin—to the severe and long-continued illness—indeed to the evidently approaching dissolution—of a tenderly beloved sister—his sole companion for long years, his last and only relative on earth. “Her decease,” he said, with a bitterness which I can never forget, “would leave him (him, the hopeless and the frail) the last of the ancient race of the Ushers.” While he spoke, the lady Madeline (for so was she called) passed slowly through a remote portion of the apartment, and, without having noticed my presence, disappeared. I regarded her with an utter astonishment not unmingled with dread; and yet I found it impossible to account for such feelings. A sensation of stupor oppressed me, as my eyes followed her retreating steps. When a door, at length, closed upon her, my glance sought instinctively and eagerly the countenance of the brother; but he had buried his face in his hands, and I could only perceive that a far more than ordinary wanness had overspread the emaciated fingers through which trickled many passionate tears. The disease of the lady Madeline had long baffled the skill of her physicians. A settled apathy, a gradual wasting away of the person, and frequent although transient affections of a partially cataleptical16 character were the unusual diagnosis. Hitherto she had steadily borne up against the pressure of her malady, and had not betaken herself finally to bed; but on the closing in of the evening of my arrival at the house, she succumbed (as her brother told me at night with inexpressible agitation) to the prostrating power of the destroyer; and I learned that the glimpse I had obtained of her person would thus probably be the last I should obtain—that the lady, at least while living, would be seen by me no more. For several days ensuing, her name was unmentioned by either Usher or myself; and during this period I was busied in earnest endeavors to alleviate the melancholy of my friend. We painted 15. supposititious (suh poz uh TIHSH uhs) adj. supposed. 16. cataleptical (kat uh LEHP tihk uhl) adj. in a state in which consciousness and feeling are suddenly and temporarily lost and the muscles become rigid. 12 13 dissolution (dihs uh LOO shuhn) n. ending or downfall 14 15 CLOSE READ ANNOTATE: In the first two sentences of paragraph13, mark the sections that are set off by dashes or parentheses. QUESTION: Why does the author structure these sentences in this way? CONCLUDE: What do these fragmented sentences suggest about the way Usher speaks and behaves? The Fall of the House of Usher 19
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES and read together, or I listened, as if in a dream, to the wild improvisations of his speaking guitar. And thus, as a closer and still closer intimacy admitted me more unreservedly into the recesses of his spirit, the more bitterly did I perceive the futility of all attempt at cheering a mind from which darkness, as if an inherent positive quality, poured forth upon all objects of the moral and physical universe, in one unceasing radiation of gloom. I shall ever bear about me a memory of the many solemn hours I thus spent alone with the master of the House of Usher. Yet I should fail in any attempt to convey an idea of the exact character of the studies, or of the occupations, in which he involved me, or led me the way. An excited and highly distempered ideality17 threw a sulfureous luster over all. His long improvised dirges will ring forever in my ears. Among other things, I hold painfully in mind a certain singular perversion and amplification of the wild air of the last waltz of von Weber.18 From the paintings over which his elaborate fancy brooded, and which grew, touch by touch, into vaguenesses at which I shuddered the more thrillingly, because I shuddered knowing not why—from these paintings (vivid as their images now are before me) I would in vain endeavor to educe more than a small portion which should lie within the compass of merely written words. By the utter simplicity, by the nakedness of his designs, he arrested and overawed attention. If ever mortal painted an idea, that mortal was Roderick Usher. For me at least, in the circ*mstances then surrounding me, there arose out of the pure abstractions which the hypochondriac contrived to throw upon his canvas, an intensity of intolerable awe, no shadow of which felt I ever yet in the contemplation of the certainly glowing yet too concrete reveries of Fuseli.19 One of the phantasmagoric conceptions of my friend, partaking not so rigidly of the spirit of abstraction, may be shadowed forth, although feebly, in words. A small picture presented the interior of an immensely long and rectangular vault or tunnel, with low walls, smooth, white and without interruption or device. Certain accessory points of the design served well to convey the idea that this excavation lay at an exceeding depth below the surface of the earth. No outlet was observed in any portion of its vast extent, and no torch, or other artificial source of light was discernible; yet a flood of intense rays rolled throughout, and bathed the whole in a ghastly and inappropriate splendor. I have just spoken of that morbid condition of the auditory nerve which rendered all music intolerable to the sufferer, with the exception of certain effects of stringed instruments. It was, perhaps, 17. ideality (y dee AL uh tee) n. something that is ideal or has no reality. 18. von Weber (fon VAY buhr) Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826), German Romantic composer whose music was highly emotional and dramatic. 19. Fuseli (FYOO zuh lee) Johann Heinrich Füssli (1741–1825), also known as Henry Fuseli, Swiss-born painter who lived in England and was noted for his depictions of dreamlike and sometimes nightmarish images. 16 17 18 20 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES the narrow limits to which he thus confined himself upon the guitar, which gave birth, in great measure, to the fantastic character of his performances. But the fervid facility of his impromptus could not be so accounted for. They must have been, and were, in the notes, as well as in the words of his wild fantasias (for he not unfrequently accompanied himself with rhymed verbal improvisations), the result of that intense mental collectedness and concentration to which I have previously alluded as observable only in particular moments of the highest artificial excitement. The words of one of these rhapsodies I have easily remembered. I was, perhaps, the more forcibly impressed with it, as he gave it because, in the under or mystic current of its meaning, I fancied that I perceived, and for the first time, a full consciousness on the part of Usher of the tottering of his lofty reason upon her throne. The verses, which were entitled “The Haunted Palace,” ran very nearly, if not accurately, thus: I In the greenest of our valleys, By good angels tenanted, Once a fair and stately palace— Radiant palace—reared its head. In the monarch Thought’s dominion— It stood there! Never seraph20 spread a pinion21 Over fabric half so fair. II Banners yellow, glorious, golden, On its roof did float and flow (This—all this—was in the olden Time long ago) And every gentle air that dallied, In that sweet day, Along the ramparts plumed and pallid, A winged odor went away. III Wanderers in that happy valley Through two luminous windows saw Spirits moving musically To a lute’s well-tuned law; Round about a throne, where sitting (Porphyrogene!)22 In state his glory well befitting, The ruler of the realm was seen. 20. seraph (SEHR uhf) n. angel. 21. pinion (PIHN yuhn) n. wing. 22. Porphyrogene (pawr fehr oh JEEN) adj. born to royalty or “the purple.” 19 20 21 The Fall of the House of Usher 21
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES IV And all with pearl and ruby glowing Was the fair palace door, Through which came flowing, flowing, flowing And sparkling evermore. A troop of Echoes whose sweet duty Was but to sing, In voices of surpassing beauty, The wit and wisdom of their king. V But evil things, in robes of sorrow, Assailed the monarch’s high estate; (Ah, let us mourn, for never morrow Shall dawn upon him, desolate!) And, round about his home, the glory That blushed and bloomed Is but a dim-remembered story Of the old time entombed. VI And travelers now within that valley, Through the red-litten23 windows, see Vast forms that move fantastically To a discordant melody; While, like a rapid ghastly river, Through the pale door, A hideous throng rush out forever, And laugh—but smile no more. I well remember that suggestions arising from this ballad led us into a train of thought wherein there became manifest an opinion of Usher’s which I mention not so much on account of its novelty (for other men have thought thus), as on account of the pertinacity24 with which he maintained it. This opinion, in its general form, was that of the sentience of all vegetable things. But, in his disordered fancy the idea had assumed a more daring character, and trespassed, under certain conditions, upon the kingdom of inorganization.25 I lack words to express the full extent, or the earnest abandon of his persuasion. The belief, however, was connected (as I have previously hinted) with the gray stones of the home of his forefathers. The conditions of the sentience had been here, he imagined, fulfilled in the method of collocation of these stones—in the order of their arrangement, as well as in that of the many fungi which overspread them, and of the decayed trees which stood around—above all, in the long undisturbed endurance of 23. litten adj. lighted. 24. pertinacity (purt uhn AS uh tee) n. determined stubbornness. 25. inorganization n. inanimate objects. 22 23 24 25 22 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES this arrangement, and in its reduplication in the still waters of the tarn. Its evidence—the evidence of the sentience—was to be seen, he said (and I here started as he spoke), in the gradual yet certain condensation of an atmosphere of their own about the waters and the walls. The result was discoverable, he added, in that silent, yet importunate and terrible influence which for centuries had molded the destinies of his family, and which made him what I now saw him—what he was. Such opinions need no comment, and I will make none. Our books—the books which, for years, had formed no small portion of the mental existence of the invalid—were, as might be supposed, in strict keeping with this character of phantasm. We pored together over such works as the Ververt et Chartreuse of Gresset; the Belphegor of Machiavelli; the Heaven and Hell of Swedenborg; the Subterranean Voyage of Nicholas Klimm by Holberg; the Chiromancy of Robert Flud, of Jean D’Indaginé, and of De la Chambre; the Journey into the Blue Distance of Tieck; and the City of the Sun of Campanella.26 One favorite volume was a small octavo edition of the Directorium Inquisitorium, by the Dominican Eymeric de Gironne; and there were passages in Pomponius Mela, about the old African Satyrs and Œgipans, over which Usher would sit dreaming for hours. His chief delight, however, was found in the perusal of an exceedingly rare and curious book in quarto Gothic— the manual of a forgotten church—the Vigiliae Mortuorum secundum Chorum Ecclesiae Maguntinae. I could not help thinking of the wild ritual of this work, and of its probable influence upon the hypochondriac, when, one evening, having informed me abruptly that the lady Madeline was no more, he stated his intention of preserving her corpse for a fortnight (previously to its final interment), in one of the numerous vaults within the main walls of the building. The worldly reason, however, assigned for this singular proceeding, was one which I did not feel at liberty to dispute. The brother had been led to his resolution (so he told me) by consideration of the unusual character of the malady of the deceased, of certain obtrusive and eager inquiries on the part of her medical men, and of the remote and exposed situation of the burial ground of the family. I will not deny that when I called to mind the sinister countenance of the person whom I met upon the staircase, on the day of my arrival at the house, I had no desire to oppose what I regarded as at best but a harmless, and by no means an unnatural precaution. At the request of Usher, I personally aided him in the arrangements for the temporary entombment. The body having been encoffined, we two alone bore it to its rest. The vault in which we placed it (and which had been so long unopened that our torches, half smothered in its oppressive atmosphere, gave us little 26. Ververt et Chartreuse of Gresset . . . City of the Sun of Campanella All the books listed deal with magic or mysticism. 26 27 28 The Fall of the House of Usher 23
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES opportunity for investigation) was small, damp, and entirely without means of admission for light; lying, at great depth, immediately beneath that portion of the building in which was my own sleeping apartment. It had been used, apparently, in remote feudal times, for the worst purposes of a donjon-keep,27 and, in later days, as a place of deposit for powder, or some other highly combustible substance, as a portion of its floor, and the whole interior of a long archway through which we reached it, were carefully sheathed with copper. The door, of massive iron, had been, also, similarly protected. Its immense weight caused an unusually sharp, grating sound, as it moved upon its hinges. Having deposited our mournful burden upon trestles within this region of horror, we partially turned aside the yet unscrewed lid of the coffin, and looked upon the face of the tenant. A striking similitude between the brother and sister now first arrested my attention; and Usher, divining, perhaps, my thoughts, murmured out some few words from which I learned that the deceased and himself had been twins, and that sympathies of a scarcely intelligible nature had always existed between them. Our glances, however, rested not long upon the dead—for we could not regard her unawed. The disease which had thus entombed the lady in the maturity of youth, had left, as usual in all maladies of a strictly cataleptical character, the mockery of a faint blush upon the bosom and the face, and that suspiciously lingering smile upon the lip which is so terrible in death. We replaced and screwed down the lid, and, having secured the door of iron, made our way, with toil, into the scarcely less gloomy apartments of the upper portion of the house. And now, some days of bitter grief having elapsed, an observable change came over the features of the mental disorder of my friend. His ordinary manner had vanished. His ordinary occupations were neglected or forgotten. He roamed from chamber to chamber with hurried, unequal, and object-less step. The pallor of his countenance had assumed, if possible, a more ghastly hue—but the luminousness of his eye had utterly gone out. The once occasional huskiness of his tone was heard no more; and a tremulous quaver, as if of extreme terror, habitually characterized his utterance. There were times, indeed, when I thought his unceasingly agitated mind was laboring with some oppressive secret, to divulge which he struggled for the necessary courage. At times, again, I was obliged to resolve all into the mere inexplicable vagaries28 of madness, for I beheld him gazing upon vacancy for long hours, in an attitude of the profoundest attention, as if listening to some imaginary sound. It was no wonder that his condition terrified—that it infected me. I felt creeping upon me, by 27. donjon-keep (DUHN juhn keep) n. inner storage room of a castle; dungeon. 28. vagaries (VAY guhr eez) n. odd, unexpected actions or notions. 29 CLOSE READ 30 ANNOTATE: In paragraph30, mark words that relate to physical actions and behavior. QUESTION: What do these physical details show about Usher’s mental state and emotions? CONCLUDE: What is the effect of these descriptive details? 24 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES slow yet certain degrees, the wild influences of his own fantastic yet impressive superstitions. It was, especially, upon retiring to bed late in the night of the seventh or eighth day after the placing of the lady Madeline within the donjon, that I experienced the full power of such feelings. Sleep came not near my couch—while the hours waned and waned away. I struggled to reason off the nervousness which had dominion over me. I endeavored to believe that much, if not all of what I felt, was due to the bewildering influence of the gloomy furniture of the room—of the dark and tattered draperies, which, tortured into motion by the breath of a rising tempest, swayed fitfully to and fro upon the walls, and rustled uneasily about the decorations of the bed. But my efforts were fruitless. An irrepressible tremor gradually pervaded my frame; and, at length, there sat upon my very heart an incubus29 of utterly causeless alarm. Shaking this off with a gasp and a struggle, I uplifted myself upon the pillows, and, peering earnestly 29. incubus (IHN kyuh buhs) n. something nightmarishly burdensome. 31 The Fall of the House of Usher 25
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES within the intense darkness of the chamber, hearkened—I know not why, except that an instinctive spirit prompted me—to certain low and indefinite sounds which came, through the pauses of the storm, at long intervals, I knew not whence. Overpowered by an intense sentiment of horror, unaccountable yet unendurable, I threw on my clothes with haste (for I felt that I should sleep no more during the night), and endeavored to arouse myself from the pitiable condition into which I had fallen, by pacing rapidly to and fro through the apartment. I had taken but few turns in this manner, when a light step on an adjoining staircase arrested my attention. I presently recognized it as that of Usher. In an instant afterward he rapped, with a gentle touch, at my door, and entered, bearing a lamp. His countenance was, as usual, cadaverously wan—but, moreover, there was a species of mad hilarity in his eyes—an evidently restrained hysteria in his whole demeanor. His air appalled me—but anything was preferable to 32 26 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES the solitude which I had so long endured, and I even welcomed his presence as a relief. “And you have not seen it?” he said abruptly, after having stared about him for some moments in silence—“you have not then seen it?—but, stay! you shall.” Thus speaking, and having carefully shaded his lamp, he hurried to one of the casem*nts, and threw it freely open to the storm. The impetuous fury of the entering gust nearly lifted us from our feet. It was, indeed, a tempestuous yet sternly beautiful night, and one wildly singular in its terror and its beauty. A whirlwind had apparently collected its force in our vicinity; for there were frequent and violent alterations in the direction of the wind; and the exceeding density of the clouds (which hung so low as to press upon the turrets of the house) did not prevent our perceiving the lifelike velocity with which they flew careering from all points against each other, without passing away into the distance. I say that even their exceeding density did not prevent our perceiving this—yet we had no glimpse of the moon or stars, nor was there any flashing forth of the lightning. But the under surfaces of the huge masses of agitated vapor, as well as all terrestrial objects immediately around us, were glowing in the unnatural light of a faintly luminous and distinctly visible gaseous exhalation which hung about and enshrouded the mansion. “You must not—you shall not behold this!” said I, shudderingly, to Usher, as I led him, with a gentle violence, from the window to a seat. “These appearances, which bewilder you, are merely electrical phenomena not uncommon—or it may be that they have their ghastly origin in the rank miasma30 of the tarn. Let us close this casem*nt:— the air is chilling and dangerous to your frame. Here is one of your favorite romances. I will read, and you shall listen:—and so we will pass away this terrible night together.” The antique volume which I had taken up was the Mad Trist of Sir Launcelot Canning;31 but I had called it a favorite of Usher’s more in sad jest than in earnest; for, in truth, there is little in its uncouth and unimaginative prolixity which could have had interest for the lofty and spiritual ideality of my friend. It was, however, the only book immediately at hand; and I indulged a vague hope that the excitement which now agitated the hypochondriac, might find relief (for the history of mental disorder is full of similar anomalies) even in the extremeness of the folly which I should read. Could I have judged, indeed, by the wild overstrained air of vivacity with which he harkened, or apparently harkened, to the words of the tale, I might well have congratulated myself upon the success of my design. I had arrived at that well-known portion of the story where Ethelred, the hero of the Trist, having sought in vain for peaceable admission into the dwelling of the hermit, proceeds to make good 30. miasma (my AZ muh) n. unwholesome atmosphere. 31. Mad Trist of Sir Launcelot Canning fictional book and author. 33 CLOSE READ ANNOTATE: In paragraph 34, mark words and phrases that suggest extremes, whether of emotion, action, or size. QUESTION: What is noteworthy about this storm? CONCLUDE: What greater meaning do these details give to the storm? 34 35 36 37 The Fall of the House of Usher 27
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES an entrance by force. Here, it will be remembered, the words of the narrative run thus: “And Ethelred, who was by nature of a doughty32 heart, and who was now mighty withal, on account of the powerfulness of the wine which he had drunken, waited no longer to hold parley33 with the hermit, who, in sooth, was of an obstinate and maliceful turn, but, feeling the rain upon his shoulders, and fearing the rising of the tempest, uplifted his mace outright, and, with blows, made quickly room in the plankings of the door for his gauntleted hand; and now pulling therewith sturdily, he so cracked, and ripped, and tore all asunder, that the noise of the dry and hollow-sounding wood alarumed and reverberated throughout the forest.” At the termination of this sentence I started and, for a moment, paused; for it appeared to me (although I at once concluded that my excited fancy had deceived me)—it appeared to me that, from some very remote portion of the mansion, there came, indistinctly, to my ears, what might have been, in its exact similarity of character, the echo (but a stifled and dull one certainly) of the very cracking and ripping sound which Sir Launcelot had so particularly described. It was, beyond doubt, the coincidence alone which had arrested my attention; for, amid the rattling of the sashes of the casem*nts, and the ordinary commingled noises of the still increasing storm, the sound, itself, had nothing, surely, which should have interested or disturbed me. I continued the story: “But the good champion Ethelred, now entering within the door, was sore enraged and amazed to perceive no signal of the maliceful hermit; but, in the stead thereof, a dragon of a scaly and prodigious demeanor, and of a fiery tongue, which sate in guard before a palace of gold, with a floor of silver; and upon the wall there hung a shield of shining brass with this legend enwritten— Who entereth herein, a conqueror hath bin; Who slayeth the dragon, the shield he shall win. And Ethelred uplifted his mace, and struck upon the head of the dragon, which fell before him, and gave up his pesty breath, with a shriek so horrid and harsh, and withal so piercing, that Ethelred had fain to close his ears with his hands against the dreadful noise of it, the like whereof was never before heard.” Here again I paused abruptly, and now with a feeling of wild amazement—for there could be no doubt whatever that, in this instance, I did actually hear (although from what direction it proceeded I found it impossible to say) a low and apparently distant, but harsh, protracted, and most unusual screaming or grating sound—the exact counterpart of what my fancy had already conjured up for the dragon’s unnatural shriek as described by the romancer. Oppressed, as I certainly was, upon the occurrence of this second and most extraordinary coincidence, by a thousand conflicting 32. doughty (DOWT ee) adj. brave. 33. parley (pahr LEE) n. conference; discussion. 38 39 40 41 42 43 28 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES sensations, in which wonder and extreme terror were predominant, I still retained sufficient presence of mind to avoid exciting, by any observation, the sensitive nervousness of my companion. I was by no means certain that he had noticed the sounds in question; although, assuredly, a strange alteration had, during the last few minutes, taken place in his demeanor. From a position fronting my own, he had gradually brought round his chair, so as to sit with his face to the door of the chamber; and thus I could but partially perceive his features, although I saw that his lips trembled as if he were murmuring inaudibly. His head had dropped upon his breast—yet I knew that he was not asleep, from the wide and rigid opening of the eye as I caught a glance of it in profile. The motion of his body, too, was at variance with this idea—for he rocked from side to side with a gentle yet constant and uniform sway. Having rapidly taken notice of all this, I resumed the narrative of Sir Launcelot, which thus proceeded: “And now, the champion, having escaped from the terrible fury of the dragon, bethinking himself of the brazen shield, and of the breaking up of the enchantment which was upon it, removed the carcass from out of the way before him, and approached valorously over the silver pavement of the castle to where the shield was upon the wall; which in sooth tarried not for his full coming, but fell down at his feet upon the silver floor, with a mighty great and terrible ringing sound.” No sooner had these syllables passed my lips, than—as if a shield of brass had indeed, at the moment, fallen heavily upon a floor of silver—I became aware of a distinct, hollow, metallic, and clangorous, yet apparently muffled, reverberation. Completely unnerved, I leaped to my feet; but the measured rocking movement of Usher was undisturbed. I rushed to the chair in which he sat. His eyes were bent fixedly before him, and throughout his whole countenance there reigned a stony rigidity. But, as I placed my hand upon his shoulder, there came a strong shudder over his whole person; a sickly smile quivered about his lips; and I saw that he spoke in a low, hurried, and gibbering murmur, as if unconscious of my presence. Bending closely over him I at length drank in the hideous import of his words. ”Not hear it?—yes, I hear it, and have heard it. Long—long— long—many minutes, many hours, many days, have I heard it— yet I dared not—oh, pity me, miserable wretch that I am!—I dared not—I dared not speak! We have put her living in the tomb! Said I not that my senses were acute? I now tell you that I heard her first feeble movements in the hollow coffin. I heard them—many, many days ago—yet I dared not—I dared not speak! and now—tonight— Ethelred—ha! ha!—the breaking of the hermit’s door, and the death cry of the dragon, and the clangor of the shield—say, rather, the rending of her coffin, and the grating of the iron hinges of her prison, and her struggles within the coppered archway of the vault! Oh! wither shall I fly? Will she not be here anon? Is she not hurrying to 44 45 CLOSE READ ANNOTATE: Mark examples of repeated words in paragraph 46. QUESTION: Why do these words merit being repeated? CONCLUDE: What is the effect of these repeated words? 46 rending (REHN dihng) n. violent or forceful pulling apart of something The Fall of the House of Usher 29
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES upbraid me for my haste? Have I not heard her footstep on the stair? Do I not distinguish that heavy and horrible beating of her heart? Madman!”—here he sprang furiously to his feet, and shrieked out his syllables, as if in the effort he were giving up his soul—“Madman! I tell you that she now stands without the door!” As if in the superhuman energy of his utterance there had been found the potency of a spell, the huge antique panels to which the speaker pointed, threw slowly back, upon the instant, their ponderous and ebony jaws. It was the work of the rushing gust—but then without those doors there did stand the lofty and enshrouded figure of the lady Madeline of Usher. There was blood upon her white robes, and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her emaciated frame. For a moment she remained trembling and reeling to and fro upon the threshold—then, with a low moaning cry, fell heavily inward upon the person of her brother, and in her violent and now final death agonies, bore him to the floor a corpse, and a victim to the terrors he had anticipated. From that chamber, and from that mansion, I fled aghast. The storm was still abroad in all its wrath as I found myself crossing the old causeway. Suddenly there shot along the path a wild light, and I turned to see whence a gleam so unusual could have issued; for the vast house and its shadows were alone behind me. The radiance was that of the full, setting, and bloodred moon, which now shone vividly through that once barely discernible fissure, of which I have before spoken as extending from the roof of the building, in a zigzag direction, to the base. While I gazed, this fissure rapidly widened— there came a fierce breath of the whirlwind—the entire orb of the satellite burst at once upon my sight—my brain reeled as I saw the mighty walls rushing asunder—there was a long tumultuous shouting sound like the voice of a thousand waters—and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the “House of Usher.” ❧ 47 48 tumultuous (too MUHL choo uhs) adj. loud, excited, and emotional 30 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Comprehension Check Complete the following items after you finish your first read. 1. Why does the narrator go to visit Usher? 2. Early in the story, what flaw in the front of the house does the narrator observe? 3. What forms of artistic expression does Usher share with the narrator? 4. What does the narrator learn about the relationship between Usher and Madeline after her death? 5. What confession does Usher make to the narrator during the final storm? 6. Notebook Draw a storyboard that summarizes the events of “The Fall of the House of Usher” to confirm your understanding of the story. RESEARCH Research to Clarify Choose at least one unfamiliar detail from the text. Briefly research that detail. In what way does the information you learned shed light on an aspect of the story? Research to Explore Choose a detail or reference in the text that interests you, and formulate a research question. The Fall of the House of Usher 31
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. MAKING MEANING THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER I shudder at the thought of any, even the most trivial, incident, which may operate upon this intolerable agitation of soul. I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect—in terror. In this unnerved, in this pitiable condition, I feel that the period will sooner or later arrive when I must abandon life and reason together, in some struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR. ANNOTATE: Poe ends two sentences with the synonyms terror and FEAR. QUESTION: Why does Poe emphasize these words—one with a dash, one with capitals? CONCLUDE: Poe is conveying the idea that Usher is not afraid of danger; rather, he is afraid of fear itself. ANNOTATE: Poe begins this passage with two long, complex sentences. QUESTION: Why does Poe pack so many ideas into these sentences? CONCLUDE: These complex sentences suggest that Usher’s thoughts are racing, that he is being swept away with fear. Close Read the Text This model, from paragraph 11 of the text, shows two sample annotations, along with questions and conclusions. Close read the passage, and find another detail to annotate. Then, write a question andyour conclusion. Analyze the Text Notebook Respond to these questions. 1. (a) Interpret Which descriptive details of the interior of the house suggest that the narrator has entered a realm that is very different from the ordinary world? (b) Make Inferences In what ways is the appearance of the interior of the house related to Usher’s appearance and the condition of his mind? 2. (a) Connect How do the works of art described in the story reflect the story’s events? (b) Interpret What idea about the relationship between art and life is supported by these elements of the story? Explain. 3. (a) Analyze In what ways is the narrator affected by Usher’s condition? (b) Evaluate Do you think the narrator is a reliable witness to the events he describes? Explain. 4. Make a Judgment Is Usher responsible for the death of his sister and the collapse of his home? Explain. What is your strongest, most compelling evidence? 5. Essential Question: What is the allure of fear? What have you learned from this story about portrayals of fear in literature? CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE to support your answers. Tool Kit Close-Read Guide and Model Annotation STANDARDS Reading Literature 9-10.RL.KID.1 Analyze what a text says explicitly and draw inferences; cite the strongest, most compelling textual evidence to support conclusions. 9-10.RL.CS.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning text structure, plot structure, and/or time manipulation create effects such as mystery, tension, or surprise. 32 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What is the allure of fear? CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE to support your answers. Analyze Craft and Structure Literary Style “The Fall of the House of Usher” is an example of Gothic literature, a literary genre that began in England in the late 1700s. The term Gothic was originally used as an architectural term. It refers to medieval buildings, such as castles and cathedrals, that were seen as dark and gloomy by later generations. When writers began to set their stories in those buildings of the past, the term for the architecture was applied to the literature. The Gothic style, which has the following elements, appealed to Edgar Allan Poe’s dark view of the world: • Bleak or remote settings • Characters in psychological and/or physical torment • Plots that involve weird or violent incidents and supernatural or otherworldly occurrences • Strongly dramatic and intensely descriptive language • A gloomy, melancholy, or eerie mood • Symbolism that evokes ideas and feelings through repeated images Practice Use the chart to record passages from the story that exemplify elements of the Gothic literary tradition. Explain each choice. bleak setting tortured characters strange or violent plot dramatic description gloomy mood recurring symbolism GOTHIC ELEMENT PASSAGE EXPLANATION The Fall of the House of Usher 33
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT Concept Vocabulary annihilate fissure rending antiquity dissolution tumultuous Why These Words? These concept vocabulary words convey decay and destruction. For example, the narrator talks about a fissure in the wall, a long crack from the roof down, as evidence of the house’s decay. 1. How does the concept vocabulary contribute to the sense of finality suggested by the title of the story? 2. What other words in the selection connect to the concepts of decay anddestruction? Practice Notebook The concept vocabulary words appear in “The Fall of the House of Usher.” 1. Use the concept words to complete the paragraph. The black and suffocating night air hung close as _____ winds threatened to snap tree trunks and toss them aloft. Seeking shelter from the raging storm, I approached the gloomy mansion. The _____ of the home was obvious from the style, which had not been popular for a century. When my initial knocking produced no result, I began to bang harder and harder. A thin _____ in the wooden panel shuddered with each blow of my hand. Would my pounding lead to _____ this ancient slab in two? In my desperation to enter, I cared little that I might _____ the door. I had arrived to prevent the _____ of the family Usher. 2. Explain the context clues that help you determine the correct words. Word Study Denotation and Connotation A word’s denotation is its literal definition that you would find in a dictionary. The associations or feelings that a word suggests are its connotations. Words can have connotations that express the extreme nature of an act or a quality. Annihilate means “to destroy completely.” Its connotations suggest an extreme form of destruction in which something is not merely destroyed but utterly wiped out or obliterated. Complete these activities, using a thesaurus or college-level dictionary as needed. 1. Provide the denotation and connotations of dissolution, antiquity, andtumultuous. 2. Name a synonym for each concept vocabulary word, and tell how its connotations differ. THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER ! WORD NETWORK Add words related to fear from the text to your Word Network. STANDARDS Language 9-10.L.CSE.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking; use effective parallel structure and various types of phrases and clauses to convey specific meaning and add variety and interest to writing or presentations. 9-10.L.VAU.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings in grades 9-10 reading and content; interpret figures of speech in context and analyze their role in a text; analyze nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations. 34 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What is the allure of fear? SENTENCE STRUCTURE ELEMENTS EXAMPLE simple a single independent clause The general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered. (paragraph 7) compound two or more independent clauses, joined either by a comma and a coordinating conjunction or by a semicolon A servant in waiting took my horse, and I entered the Gothic archway of the hall. (paragraph 6) complex one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses Although, as boys, we had been even intimate associates, . . . I really knew little of my friend. (paragraph 3) compound-complex two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses We sat down[,] and . . . , while he spoke not, I gazed upon him with a feeling half of pity, half of awe. (paragraph 8) Conventions Sentence Structure Sentences can be classified by the number of independent and dependent clauses they contain. An independent clause has a subject and a verb and can stand alone as a complete thought. Adependent, or subordinate, clause also has a subject and a verb, but it cannot stand alone as a complete thought. This chart shows examples from “The Fall of the House of Usher” of the four basic sentence structures. Read It 1. Reread paragraph 2 of “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Mark independent and dependent clauses. Then, classify each sentence as simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex. 2. Reread the final paragraph of the story. Identify the structure of each sentence. Write It Notebook In the example, a simple sentence has been expanded to create other types of sentences. Expand the simple sentences below by adding details to create compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences. Example Simple: The house collapses. Compound: The house collapses, and the lake seems to swallow it whole. Complex: The house collapses as I flee in terror. Compound-Complex: The house collapses, and the lake seems to swallow it whole, as I flee in terror. 1. Madeline wanders in a distant hallway. 2. Usher sings a melancholy song. ! EVIDENCE LOG Before moving on to a new selection, go to your Evidence Log and record what you learned from “The Fall of the House of Usher.” CLARIFICATION Refer to the Grammar Handbook to learn more about these terms. The Fall of the House of Usher 35
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. MAKING MEANING THE FALL OF THE HOUSE HOUSE TAKEN OVER OF USHER About the Author Julio Cortázar (1914–1984) grew up in a suburb of Buenos Aires, in Argentina. Because he had health problems as a child, he spent much of his time in bed, reading, but he grew to be an impressive man, about six feet six inches tall. His talents were impressive, too. After teaching for several years in Argentina, he moved to Paris, where he lived out his days writing and translating distinguished English-language literature, particularly that of Edgar Allan Poe, into Spanish. Cortázar remained connected to his Argentinian roots throughout his life. NOTICE whom the story is about, what happens, whereand when it happens, and why those involved reactas they do. CONNECT ideas within the selection to what you already know and what you have already read. ANNOTATE by marking vocabulary and key passages you want to revisit. RESPOND by completing the Comprehension Check and by writing a brief summary of the selection. House Taken Over Concept Vocabulary You will encounter the following words as you read “House Taken Over.” Before reading, note how familiar you are with each word. Then, rank the words in order from most familiar (1) to least familiar (6). WORD YOUR RANKING spacious unvoiced obscure recessed vestibule muffled After completing the first read, come back to the concept vocabulary and review your rankings. Mark changes to your original rankings as needed. First Read FICTION Apply these strategies as you conduct your first read. You will have an opportunity to complete the close-read notes after your first read. Comparing Texts You will now read “House Taken Over.” First, complete the first-read and close-read activities. Then, compare the literary styles of “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “House Taken Over.” Tool Kit First-Read Guide and Model Annotation STANDARDS Reading Literature 9.RL.RRTC.9 Read and comprehend a variety of literature throughout the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with a gradual release of scaffolding at the higher end as needed. 36 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. ANCHOR TEXT | SHORT STORY BACKGROUND In 1946, when this story was written, Julio Cortázar lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina. World War II had only recently ended, and Argentina was in a state of political turmoil. Young people, including Cortázar, were critical of a conservative element in the government that had refused to join the Allied cause against Adolf Hitler until late in the war, by which time communication with Europe had all but stopped. The young author left Buenos Aires five years after writing this story, in protest against the policies of Juan Peron, who was increasingly dominating Argentinian politics. We liked the house because, apart from its being old and spacious (in a day when old houses go down for a profitable auction of their construction materials), it kept the memories of greatgrandparents, our paternal grandfather, our parents and the whole of childhood. 1 spacious (SPAY shuhs) adj. large; roomy House Taken Over Julio Cortázar NOTES House Taken Over 37
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES Irene and I got used to staying in the house by ourselves, which was crazy, eight people could have lived in that place and not have gotten in each other’s way. We rose at seven in the morning and got the cleaning done, and about eleven I left Irene to finish off whatever rooms and went to the kitchen. We lunched at noon precisely; then there was nothing left to do but a few dirty plates. It was pleasant to take lunch and commune with the great hollow, silent house, and it was enough for us just to keep it clean. We ended up thinking, at times, that that was what had kept us from marrying. Irene turned down two suitors for no particular reason, and María Esther went and died on me before we could manage to get engaged. We were easing into our forties with the unvoiced concept that the quiet, simple marriage of sister and brother was the indispensable end to a line established in this house by our grandparents. We would die here someday, obscure and distant cousins would inherit the place, have it torn down, sell the bricks and get rich on the building plot; or more justly and better yet, we would topple it ourselves before it was too late. Irene never bothered anyone. Once the morning housework was finished, she spent the rest of the day on the sofa in her bedroom, knitting. I couldn’t tell you why she knitted so much; I think women knit when they discover that it’s a fat excuse to do nothing at all. But Irene was not like that, she always knitted necessities, sweaters for winter, socks for me, handy morning robes and bedjackets for herself. Sometimes she would do a jacket, then unravel it the next moment because there was something that didn’t please her; it was pleasant to see a pile of tangled wool in her knitting basket fighting a losing battle for a few hours to retain its shape. Saturdays I went downtown to buy wool; Irene had faith in my good taste, was pleased with the colors and never a skein1 had to be returned. I took advantage of these trips to make the rounds of the bookstores, uselessly asking if they had anything new in French literature. Nothing worthwhile had arrived in Argentina since 1939. But it’s the house I want to talk about, the house and Irene, I’m not very important. I wonder what Irene would have done without her knitting. One can reread a book, but once a pullover is finished you can’t do it over again, it’s some kind of disgrace. One day I found that the drawer at the bottom of the chiffonier, replete with mothballs, was filled with shawls, white, green, lilac. Stacked amid a great smell of camphor—it was like a shop; I didn’t have the nerve to ask her what she planned to do with them. We didn’t have to earn our living, there was plenty coming in from the farms each month, even piling up. But 1. skein (skayn) n. quantity of thread or yarn wound in a coil. 2 unvoiced (uhn VOYST) adj. not spoken out loud or expressed obscure (uhb SKYAWR) adj. not well-known 3 4 CLOSE READ ANNOTATE: Mark details in paragraphs 3 and 4 that relate to the idea of being necessary or unnecessary, useful or useless. QUESTION: Why might concepts of necessity and uselessness be important? CONCLUDE: What do these details show about the characters and their lives? 38 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE
