The Raven

Page 832

Stanza 1

1. What is the narrator doing in the first stanza of the poem?

Stanza 2

2. What month is it in the poem? How does the weather affect the MOOD of the story?

Stanza 3

3. The narrator is reading books in order to take his mind off of someone. Who is this someone?

4. When the narrator is first filled with terror, what does he believe is its cause?

Stanza 4

5. When the narrator opens the door, what does he find? How do you think this makes him feel? How does this affect the MOOD?

Stanza 5

6. When the narrator whispers, "Lenore," what does the narrator hear? Do you think something really did this or is the narrator imagining things? (take class poll)

Stanza 6

7. What does the narrator now believe is causing the noise?

Stanza 7

8. How is ALLITERATION used in the first line of stanza 7?

Stanza 8

9. Give three examples of ALLITERATION in stanza 8!

What does the raven say its name is?

Stanza 9

10. How many people does the narrator say have encountered a bird such as the raven he is encountering now? How do you know? EXPLAIN!

Stanza 10

11. When does the narrator tell himself the raven will leave?

Stanza 11

12. Why does the narrator believe the raven keeps saying "nevermore"?

Stanza 12

13. Where does the narrator decide to position himself?

Stanza 13

14. How is RYHME used in the first line of stanza 13?

Stanza 14

15. The narrator talks about drinking Nepenthe? What is this?

Stanza 15

16. What evil figure does the narrator think the bird might be?

Stanza 16

17. When the narrator asks the raven where Lenore is, how does the raven reply?

Stanza 17

18. What does the narrator order the raven to do? How does the raven respond?

Stanza 18

19. What does the narrator end up doing? What effect does this have on the narrator?

Thematic Focus

20. How does the speaker's perspective on the raven change throughout the poem?