The Fall of the House of Usher

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English language learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Poe’s stories are often unclear about whether the mysterious occurrences are natural or supernatural.

• Are the events of the story mostly natural, a delusion, supernatural, or a mix of these? (topic sentence)
• Identify three representative events, descriptions, or ideas in the story that relate to your topic sentence on Supernatural Versus Rational Explanations. Discuss how each one might be explained as either natural or supernatural.
• In conclusion, what is the likeliest explanation for the mysterious happenings in the story?

2. Part of Poe’s style involves the creative use of syntax.

• How does the author use words and sentences to create a mood of melancholy, confusion, or fear? (topic sentence)
• Select three descriptive passages to analyze, including the beginning and ending passages and an additional example from the middle of the story.