Name:       Date:      

“The Fall of the House of Usher”

Edgar Allan Poe

FIRST READ: Comprehension

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

     1. At the beginning of “The Fall of the House of Usher,” what does the narrator
do?
a. He listens to Roderick Usher’s improvisations on the guitar.
b. He travels with Roderick Usher to visit Usher’s family home.
c. He travels to visit Roderick Usher at Usher’s family home.
d. He helps Roderick Usher bury Roderick’s sister Madeline in a vault.

     2. Which phrase best describes Usher’s state of mind in “The Fall of the House of
Usher”?
a. cautious and glum
b. dull and depressed
c. suspicious and miserable
d. nervous and agitated

     3. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” what does Usher say is his biggest fear?
a. being frightened to death
b. being accidentally buried alive
c. the death of his sister Madeline
d. the collapse of his family’s house

     4. Which of the following is the most accurate description of what happens to
Madeline Usher in “The Fall of the House of Usher”?
a. She dies, is buried by her brother, but then returns to life to terrorize her
brother and the narrator.
b. She appears to die, is mistakenly entombed, but then revives and forces
her way to freedom before dying.
c. She pretends to die, is taken for dead and is buried, but then emerges
from her crypt to destroy the house.
d. She nearly dies, recovers through a doctor’s help, but then is thrown into
an underground cell by her brother.

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 GRADE 10 • UNIT 1 • SELECTION TEST

“THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER” BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

Name:       Date:      

     5. Which is the most accurate description of the ending of the “The Fall of the
House of Usher”?
a. During a storm, the waters of the tarn surrounding the house rise until the
house is submerged.
b. During a storm, the barely perceptible fissure in the façade of the house
widens until the house collapses.
c. During a storm, Roderick Usher madly rushes about striking at the house
until he causes its collapse.
d. During a storm, Roderick and Madeline Usher struggle so madly that
they cause the collapse of the house.

FIRST READ: Concept Vocabulary

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

     6. If a storm were to annihilate a building, which of the following would most
likely be the result?
a. The building would have part of its roof torn off.
b. The building would have damage but would remain intact.
c. The building would be reduced to small fragments.
d. The building would be removed from its foundation.

     7. Which of the following would most likely be considered an antiquity?

a. a vase from ancient times
b. a rusty piece of jewelry
c. a house built in the 1950s
d. a logbook from a space shuttle

     8. Which of the following is the best example of a tumultuous event?

a. a foggy night that hides the moon
b. a drought that causes crops to wither and die
c. a storm so loud that it is hard to hear others speaking
d. a winter night so cold that snow freezes into ice

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 GRADE 10 • UNIT 1 • SELECTION TEST

“THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER” BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

Name:       Date:      

CLOSE READ: Analyze the Text

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

     9. Read the following sentence from “The Fall of the House of Usher,” in which
the narrator explains that he has received a letter from Roderick Usher.
A letter, however, had lately reached me in a distant part of the country—a letter
from him—which, in its wildly importunate nature, had admitted of no other than a
personal reply.

What is the most likely reason the narrator says the letter “admitted of no other
than a personal reply”? Base your answer on your knowledge of the story as
well as on the sentence.
a. The narrator feels obliged to respond to his friend’s request for a visit
because his friend is clearly upset.
b. The narrator is worried that it will seem rude if he does not answer the
letter in a personal way.
c. The narrator hopes his friend will invite him to stay in the distant part of
the country where his friend lives.
d. The narrator believes that his friend is threatening to harm him if he does
not give the right answer.

10. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

      Part A In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” which details of the house’s
interior seem to reflect Usher’s appearance and the condition of his mind?
a. Usher’s confused behavior is reflected in the broken mirrors.
b. Usher’s self-assurance and noble manner is reflected in its wealth and
splendor.
c. Usher’s advanced age and old-fashioned ways are reflected in the ancient
furnishings.
d. Usher’s physical and mental deterioration is reflected in the gloomy
darkness, lack of comfort, and old, worn-out possessions.

      Part B Which excerpt from “The Fall of the House of Usher” best supports the
answer to Part A?
a. The room in which I found myself was very large and lofty.
b. The general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered.
c. A small picture presented the interior of an immensely long and
rectangular vault or tunnel, with low walls, smooth, white, and without
interruption or device.
d. Our books—the books which, for years, had formed no small portion of
the mental existence of the invalid—were, as might be supposed, in
keeping with this character of phantasm.

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 GRADE 10 • UNIT 1 • SELECTION TEST

“THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER” BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

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 GRADE 10 • UNIT 1 • SELECTION TEST

“THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER” BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

Name:       Date:      

11. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

      Part A In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” which of the following is one of
Roderick Usher’s disturbing ideas?
a. Usher believes that his house has awareness, like a living thing.
b. Usher believes that his house will fall apart, sliding into the tarn.
c. Usher believes that his sister will die, even though she is healthy.
d. Usher believes that the narrator has held a grudge, ever since boyhood.

      Part B Which excerpt from the story best supports the answer to Part A?
a. Although, as boys, we had been even intimate associates, yet I really
knew little of my friend. His reserve had been always excessive and
habitual.
b. The belief, however, was connected … with the gray stones of the home
of his forefathers. The conditions of the sentience had been here, he
imagined, fulfilled in the method of collocation of these stones.…
c. “I shall perish:” said [Usher], “I must perish in this deplorable folly.
Thus, thus, and not otherwise, shall I be lost. I dread the events of the
future, not in themselves, but in their results.”
d. [O]ne evening, having informed me abruptly that the lady Madeline was
no more, [Usher] stated his intention of preserving her corpse for a
fortnight.…

     12. Which excerpt from “The Fall of the House of Usher” best captures the story’s
overall effect?
a. There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart—an unredeemed
dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture
into aught of the sublime.
b. Although, as boys, we had been even intimate associates, yet I really
knew little of my friend.
c. Beyond this indication of extensive decay, however, the fabric gave little
token of instability.
d. It had been used, apparently, in remote feudal times, for the worst
purposes of a donjon-keep, and, in later days, as a place of deposit for
powder….

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 GRADE 10 • UNIT 1 • SELECTION TEST

“THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER” BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

Name:       Date:      

CLOSE READ: Analyze Craft and Structure

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

13. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

      Part A Which of the following is a defining element of Gothic literature that is
clearly illustrated by “The Fall of the House of Usher”?
a. believable characters and settings
b. weird or otherworldly occurrences
c. a narrator who is also a character in the story
d. a contrast between rational and irrational characters

      Part B Which excerpt from “The Fall of the House of Usher” best supports the
answer to Part A?
a. Nevertheless, in this mansion of gloom I now proposed to myself a
sojourn of some weeks. Its proprietor, Roderick Usher, had been one of
my boon companions in boyhood; but many years had elapsed since our
last meeting.
b. The writer spoke of acute bodily illness—of a mental disorder which
oppressed him—and of an earnest desire to see me, as his best, and indeed
his only personal friend, with a view of attempting … some alleviation of
his malady.
c. And thus, as a closer and still closer intimacy admitted me more
unreservedly into the recesses of his spirit, the more bitterly did I perceive
the futility of all attempt at cheering a mind from which darkness, as if an
inherent positive quality, poured forth upon all objects of the moral and
physical universe, in one unceasing radiation of gloom.
d. [B]ut then without those doors there did stand the lofty and enshrouded
figure of the lady Madeline of Usher. There was blood upon her white
robes, and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her
emaciated frame.… then, with a low moaning cry, fell heavily inward
upon the person of her brother, and in her violent and now final death
agonies, bore him to the floor a corpse, and a victim to the terrors he had
anticipated.

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 GRADE 10 • UNIT 1 • SELECTION TEST

“THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER” BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

Name:       Date:      

     14. Which aspects of Roderick Usher’s character most clearly illustrate elements
of Gothic literature? Choose two options.
a. Roderick is an accomplished musician.
b. Roderick has a twin sister with whom he lives.
c. Roderick fears that unnatural forces control his home.
d. Roderick and his sister are the last living members of their family.
e. Roderick lives in a gloomy ancestral home far from populated areas.
f. Roderick reads specialized books and has unique theories about the
world.

15. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

      Part A Read the following excerpt from “The Fall of the House of Usher.”
The impetuous fury of the entering gust nearly lifted us from our feet. It was, indeed,
a tempestuous yet sternly beautiful night, and one wildly singular in its terror and its
beauty.… —yet we had no glimpse of the moon or stars, … But the under surfaces
of the huge masses of agitated vapor, as well as all terrestrial objects immediately
around us, were glowing in the unnatural light of a faintly luminous and distinctly
visible gaseous exhalation which hung about and enshrouded the mansion.

In what way is this excerpt most clearly characteristic of Gothic literature?

a. The description is dramatic. The setting described is eerie.
b. The description is detailed. The setting described is stormy.
c. The description is dramatic. The setting described has wild beauty.
d. The description is detailed. The setting described is filled with light.

      Part B Which most clearly is the intended effect of the excerpt in Part A?
a. to help readers understand why a disaster will soon occur
b. to help readers sympathize with a character who is going mad
c. to create a mood of terror
d. to create a mood of enthusiasm

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 GRADE 10 • UNIT 1 • SELECTION TEST

“THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER” BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

Name:       Date:      

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: Word Study

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

     16. Read the following sentence.

The wrestler faced his adversary in the ring.

In which of these answer choices does the underlined word have a denotation
and a connotation closest to the denotation and the connotation of adversary?
a. Keisha’s foe on the student council was Joe, who voted against every
suggestion she made.
b. The United Nations can serve as an arbiter between nations when they are
in disagreement.
c. The hurricane was a natural catastrophe on the island, damaging several
homes and a hotel.
d. Sofía’s strongest competitor in the race is Ashley, who logged a very fast
time last year.

     17. Read the following sentence.

Malik bought his mother some flowers, and she enjoyed their fragrance.

In which of these answer choices does the underlined word have the same
denotation as fragrance but a clearly opposite connotation?
a. Arjun knew from the stench of the leftovers that it was time to clean the
refrigerator.
b. Melanie breathed in the aroma of freshly baked bread as she walked past
the bakery.
c. Dion used a new spice when he made dinner for his family, and they
praised the flavor.
d. Freddie agrees that the interior of a new car has a special odor, but he
does not like it.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: Conventions

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

     18. Select the answer choice in which a dependent clause is underlined.

a. Edgar Allan Poe is considered to be the inventor of the detective story.
b. Writers all over the world have imitated his tales of mystery and
supernatural events.
c. He earned his living as a writer, but he was in financial difficulties for
most of his short life.
d. Though the cause of Poe’s death is unknown, many believe that poor
health and habits were probably the main factors.

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 GRADE 10 • UNIT 1 • SELECTION TEST

“THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER” BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

Name:       Date:      

     19. Select the complex sentence.

a. Edgar Allan Poe’s stories, while they delight the imagination, also
challenge one’s intelligence.
b. Poe’s writing style is considered dense and challenging by many of
today’s readers.
c. Still, most young people like his tales of horror, and some stories have
been made into popular movies.
d. Have you seen the movie House of Usher or another film called The
Haunted Palace?

     20. Select the compound-complex sentence.

a. Poe also wrote poems that cover a wide range of human emotions,
including love, joy, and intense sorrow.
b. For example, he wrote “Annabel Lee,” a tender love poem dedicated to
his deceased and beloved wife.
c. “The Raven,” a long poem by Poe, has the melancholy, pessimistic tone
of his short stories, but it is one of his most popular works.
d. He also wrote a poem that he entitled “The Bells” because the words in
the verse imitate the sounds of different kinds of bells, and the poem has
become a popular piece to be read aloud by a chorus.

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