The Murders in the Rue Morgue

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Reading Check

1. Which two games does the narrator compare in the beginning of the story?

2. Which two words does the narrator use to describe “a double Dupin”?

3. According to Dupin, what does the Parisian police force lack?

4. What evidence from the crime scene indicates to Dupin that the murderer’s motive was not burglary unless “the perpetrator [was] so vacillating an idiot” in his attempt to commit the crime?

5. Why does Dupin leave an advertisement in the Le Monde?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Who is Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin? Describe the narrator’s recollection of their first meeting and summarize Dupin’s background.

2. Which news story dominates the Gazette des Tribunaux? Summarize the type of articles that the newspaper publishes regarding this story and how the narrator and Dupin respond to the articles.

3. How does Dupin summarize his understanding of the case to the narrator? Identify the three points that he makes and the conclusions he deduces from the evidence.

4. Who does Dupin believe committed the murder? How does he deduce this?

5.