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Copywork
About This Passage
A single long, suspended sentence whose meaning is delayed behind a dash-bound aside, so the syntax keeps the reader waiting just as Arthur waits — the form enacts the idea that a complete warning would frighten him less than the fragment did. Copying it teaches subordination, the em-dash, and the periodic sentence.
Had I been able to ascertain the entire contents of the note—the full meaning of the admonition which my friend had thus attempted to convey, that admonition, even although it should have revealed a s...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Summarize this chapter and name its turning point. Trace Arthur's struggle to read the note, Tiger's help and his alarming change, the escape from the box, and the near-miss with Augustus. What makes the moment you chose the turning point, and how do you know?
Discussion Questions
- Arthur says the fragment 'blood... your life depends upon lying close' horrifies him more than a full warning might have. Why might a broken message be more frightening than a complete one in this scene, and what does the isolated word 'blood' make Arthur imagine? Use details from the chapter.
- The same dog whose 'sagacity' fetches the torn note soon fixes Arthur with 'the most deadly animosity.' How does Poe use this reversal in Tiger, who had been Arthur's only companion through the long imprisonment, and what change does it work in the chapter's mood? Use details from the chapter.
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Harmful and disease-bearing; like a plague.
Item 2
A deep loss of hope or spirits.
Item 3
Rash, hasty action without thought.
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Critical Thinking
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