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KS3 · Year 8 - Development · Term 3 - Gothic and the Uncanny · Week 6
Pages: Poe, "The Tell-Tale Heart" (1843)
Poe's short story. Narrator insists on his sanity while confessing to murder. The reader doubts his every word.
Lesson 1
What students do
Read opening; mark every claim of sanity.
Task
Tally exclamation marks and dashes per paragraph.
Success criteria
Notes 4+ punctuation patterns linked to panic.
Lesson 2
What students do
Discuss: why do we distrust the narrator?
Task
Pair-talk on unreliable narration.
Success criteria
Connects short sentences to mental instability.
Lesson 3
What students do
Model: "Poe uses fragmented syntax to suggest…".
Task
Write paragraph on the narrator's voice.
Success criteria
Two techniques covered; quote embedded.
Lesson 4
What students do
Examine the heartbeat motif.
Task
Track every reference to the heartbeat; chart intensity.
Success criteria
Motif linked to rising guilt/madness.
Lesson 5
What students do
Recap paragraph criteria.
Task
How does Poe show the narrator's madness?
Success criteria
Sentence stem; two techniques; embedded quotes.
AI marking - try this with the English Hub feedback engine
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