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All Common Core: 8th Grade English Language Arts Resources
Adapted from "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe (1846)
The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat.At lengthI would be avenged; this was a point definitively settled — but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish but punish with impunity1. A wrong is unredressed2when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.
It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smilenowwas at the thought of his immolation3.
He had a weak point — this Fortunato — although in other regards he was a man to be respected and even feared. He prided himself upon his connoisseurship in wine. Few Italians have the true virtuoso spirit. For the most part their enthusiasm is adopted to suit the time and opportunity, to practice imposture upon the British and Austrianmillionaires. In painting and gemmary, Fortunato, like his countrymen, was a quack, but in the matter of old wines he was sincere. In this respect I did not differ from him materially; — I was skillful in the Italian vintages myself, and bought largely whenever I could.
It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season, that I encountered my friend. He accosted me with excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much. The man wore motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells. I was so pleased to see him that I thought I should never have done wringing his hand.
I said to him — “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking today. But I have received a pipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts.”
“How?” said he. “Amontillado? A pipe? Impossible! And in the middle of the carnival!”
“I have my doubts,” I replied; “and I was silly enough to pay the full AmonAftillado price without consulting you in the matter. You were not to be found, and I was fearful of losing a bargain.”
“Amontillado!”
“I have my doubts.”
“Amontillado!”
“And I must satisfy them.”
“Amontillado!”
“As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchresi. If any one has a critical turn it is he. He will tell me ——”
“Luchresi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry4.”
“And yet some fools will have it that his taste is a match for your own.”
“Come, let us go.”
“Whither?”
“To your vaults.”
What does the reader learn in the first three paragraphs that creates suspense for the rest of the passage?
The narrator wants to punish Fortunato.
Fortunato is an expert on Italian wine.
Fortunato insulted the narrator.
Fortunato only pretends to be an expert on gems and paintings.
Both Fortunato and the narrator are experts on Italian wine.
What does the reader learn in the first three paragraphs that creates suspense for the rest of the passage?
Fortunato is an expert on Italian wine.
Fortunato insulted the narrator.
Fortunato only pretends to be an expert on gems and paintings.
Both Fortunato and the narrator are experts on Italian wine.
The narrator wants to punish Fortunato.
This story can be pretty confusing because of the way it dramatically shifts topics. For the first three paragraphs, the narrator tells the reader how he wants to get revenge on Fortunato because Fortunato went too far in insulting him somehow. (We never learn just what it is Fortunato did that made the narrator so mad at him.) The narrator calmly explains that he thinks the best revenge is total in nature ("I must not only punish but punish with impunity.") and that it takes place when the person taking revenge is revealed to the person receiving it ("It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.") We then learn that the narrator has given Fortunato no clue that he is seeking revenge against him. Readers get the idea that this revenge is going to be extremely severe when the author uses the word "immolation," a very strong word, to describe it: "I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smilenowwas at the thought of his immolation."
After this, the narrator explains that Fortunato has a weakness—he prides himself on being a wine expert. This is the "weak point" that the narrator will make use of in enacting his revenge. After this, we jump to the events of the story, during a carnival, when the narrator runs into Fortunato and tells him about a cask of amontillado he has obtained. So, what do we learn in the first three paragraphs that makes this interaction suspenseful? We're waiting to see how the narrator enacts his revenge, and if Fortunato can escape the narrator's plot or realize that the narrator has ulterior motives. "Fortunato insulted the narrator" might look like a good answer choice, but we wouldn't be reading a very long story if the narrator simply forgave Fortunato for insulting him. Instead, the narrator is out for revenge, and it's this realization that gives the suspenseful heft to the rest of the action that follows. If we didn't know this, we wouldn't be able to realize that the narrator isn't earnest in his interaction with Fortunato and has other plans in mind in order to get revenge. "The narrator wants to punish Fortunato" is the answer that encapsulates this.
Adapted from "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe (1846)
The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat.At lengthI would be avenged; this was a point definitively settled — but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish but punish with impunity1. A wrong is unredressed2when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.
It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smilenowwas at the thought of his immolation3.
He had a weak point — this Fortunato — although in other regards he was a man to be respected and even feared. He prided himself upon his connoisseurship in wine. Few Italians have the true virtuoso spirit. For the most part their enthusiasm is adopted to suit the time and opportunity, to practice imposture upon the British and Austrianmillionaires. In painting and gemmary, Fortunato, like his countrymen, was a quack, but in the matter of old wines he was sincere. In this respect I did not differ from him materially; — I was skillful in the Italian vintages myself, and bought largely whenever I could.
It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season, that I encountered my friend. He accosted me with excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much. The man wore motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells. I was so pleased to see him that I thought I should never have done wringing his hand.
I said to him — “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking today. But I have received a pipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts.”
“How?” said he. “Amontillado? A pipe? Impossible! And in the middle of the carnival!”
“I have my doubts,” I replied; “and I was silly enough to pay the full Amontillado price without consulting you in the matter. You were not to be found, and I was fearful of losing a bargain.”
“Amontillado!”
“I have my doubts.”
“Amontillado!”
“And I must satisfy them.”
“Amontillado!”
“As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchresi. If any one has a critical turn it is he. He will tell me ——”
“Luchresi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry4.”
“And yet some fools will have it that his taste is a match for your own.”
“Come, let us go.”
“Whither?”
“To your vaults.”
"Fortunato" meansfortunateorluckyin Italian. Why is this an ironic choice of name for the character Fortunato in Poe's story?
Fortunato is not lucky because it is the narrator, not he, who obtained the amontillado.
Fortunato is not lucky because he has not been able to prove himself more intelligent than Luchesi.
Fortunato is not lucky because he is oblivious to the grave danger that he is in.
Fortunato is lucky to run into the narrator at random during the carnival.
Only the audience knows that Fortunato is lucky; the narrator has no idea of this.
"Fortunato" meansfortunateorluckyin Italian. Why is this an ironic choice of name for the character Fortunato in Poe's story?
Fortunato is not lucky because it is the narrator, not he, who obtained the amontillado.
Fortunato is not lucky because he has not been able to prove himself more intelligent than Luchesi.
Fortunato is lucky to run into the narrator at random during the carnival.
Only the audience knows that Fortunato is lucky; the narrator has no idea of this.
Fortunato is not lucky because he is oblivious to the grave danger that he is in.
Much of this story's potency derives from its use of irony. Simply put, irony occurs when what the reader sees or is led to expect is very different from or the opposite of what turns out to be the case. In this case, the name "Fortunato" sounds like it should refer to a character who is in some wayfortunateorlucky;然而,崔ce of name is ironic because that's not what we as readers get from the story. We can immediately knock out the answer choices "Only the audience knows that Fortunato is lucky; the narrator has no idea of this" and "Fortunato is lucky to run into the narrator at random during the carnival" because if we expect Fortunato to be lucky and he is lucky, that's not ironic at all. How is Fortunato not as lucky as we expect him to be in this story? Well, the narrator is out to get revenge on him, and he has absolutely no idea of this in the passage that we read. That's not very lucky at all! "Fortunato is not lucky because he has not been able to prove himself more intelligent than Luchesi" isn't correct because we have no evidence that this is true, and "Fortunato is not lucky because it is the narrator, not he, who obtained the amontillado" isn't correct either. This is a lack of luck, but we the irony is created by expecting good luck for the character and seeing him receive terrible luck. The narrator is out to get revenge on Fortunato, but Fortunato doesn't know that he's about to be a victim of the narrator's plotting. That's pretty terrible luck! "Fortunato is not lucky because he is oblivious to the grave danger that he is in" is the correct answer.
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