The Fall of the House of Usher

What is the narrator's name?

We never learn his name

As a result of living in the House of Usher, the Narrator may be

losing his sanity

Why does the Narrator come to see Usher?

to help him

What is wrong with the Ushers?

stricken with a peculiar temperament that runs through their family line

After his sister's death Usher

descends into madness

Usher and his sister may have

an incestuous relationship

Edgar Allan Poe was obsessed with

premature burial

In Poe's stories

the line between sanity and insanity are blurred

What is the subject of Usher's research?

sentience

What instrument does Usher play?

a guitar

Which is NOT a symptom of Usher's condition?

insomnia

What is the name of the one woman in the story?

Madeline

What is the woman's relation to Roderick?

siblings

What happens in Usher's poem?

A palace is invaded by evil.

What is remarkable about the Usher family?

It lies entirely in the line of direct descent

Why does the House of Usher remind the Narrator of "old woodwork?

It is in a crumbling state yet still very stable

"The Usher race, all time-honored as it was, had put forth, at no period, any

enduring branch

Of what drug does Usher's condition remind the Narrator?

opium

How do Usher and the Narrator know each other?

They were boyhood friends

"If ever mortal painted an idea, that mortal was

Roderick's Usher

What does Usher's painting depict?

a castle

Who else lives with Usher?

doctors and servants

What is the closest modern diagnosis of Usher's illness?

acute anxiety

Usher's fear involves

dread of the intangible and unknowable

Roderick and his sister's strange illnesses may result from

their inbred genes

The Narrator is terrified by Usher's

house, illness, and appearance

As the story progresses, the Narrator

is drawn into Usher's twisted world

The story contains many images and suggestions of

tombs and crypts

The story's themes include

insanity, burial, and mortality

What does the Narrator notice on the dead sister's lips?

a smile

Why is there "evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion" of the dead sister's body?

because she broke free of the vault

What color is the sister's dress?

white

What are Usher's last words?

"Madman, I tell you that she now stands without the door!"

What is the first adjective used to describe the House of Usher?

melancholy

"In this mansion of gloom," what is the mansion?

The House of Usher

What word describes the fissure?

zig-zag

What happens to the fissure?

It rapidly widens

What causes the doors to swing open in the climactic scene?

gust of wind

How long does the Narrator plan to stay in the House of Usher?

a few weeks

"He accosted me with trepidation and passed on." Who is he?

the doctor

"The silken hair, too, had been suffered to grow all unheeded."

Usher's

What is the date of the Narrator's arrival at the house?

December 25

For how long does Usher plan on preserving the corpse?

a fortnight

"my brain reeled as I saw the mighty [ ] rushing asunder."

walls

Who says, "You must not-you shall not behold this"?

The Narrator