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Copywork
About This Passage
Clinging to the cliff, Pym discovers that fighting his fear only feeds it. Copying this sentence lets a writer study Poe's rising parallel structure, 'the more... the more... the more...', which builds like the panic it describes, each phrase more intense than the last until the dread becomes unbearable.
The more earnestly I struggled not to think, the more intensely vivid became my conceptions, and the more horribly distinct.
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell the chapter in order: the climb down the cliff, Pym's near-fatal fear and rescue, the ambush by the savages, and the canoe escape. Then name the moment you think matters most, and say why.
Discussion Questions
- On the cliff, Peters calmly invents a way down while Pym is nearly destroyed by his own fear. What does this contrast between the two men reveal, and why is that difference important here? Use the chapter's details about the descent to defend your view.
- As Pym climbs down toward Peters, the harder he tries not to think about falling, the more vividly he imagines it, until he longs to fall. Why might trying not to feel fear actually make Pym's fear worse? Use the chapter's words about his thoughts to explain.
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Vocabulary
Item 1
Dangerously insecure; likely to fail or fall.
Item 2
About to happen at any moment.
Item 3
Cleverness at inventing or solving problems.
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Critical Thinking
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