A voice that cannot be trusted
A narrator insists he is sane while his own account records the fear and pressure that undo him.
Story 02 / Student reader
The Tell-Tale Heart
Listen to an unnamed narrator defend his sanity. As you read, notice where the voice sounds controlled and where it gives itself away.
Original source. The complete public-domain text is provided by Project Gutenberg.
Open Project Gutenberg /01 / Read first
Read the complete original.
The public-domain text opens below. Read the story in the frame, then use the phrase list and tools to revisit any difficult sentence.
“True! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?”
Opening sentence / Edgar Allan Poe
02 / Plot map
Trace how the story moves.
Build the story from setting to turning point. The final node stays closed until you finish the original text.
- 01 / Beginning
The narrator insists
He opens by arguing for his sanity, asking the reader to trust his sharp senses and careful planning.
- 02 / Conflict
An eye becomes an obsession
The old man has done him no wrong, but the narrator turns one “vulture” eye into a reason for fear.
- 03 / Key development
Seven nights of watching
He visits the room night after night, increasing his control over the scene and his anxiety at the same time.
- 04 / Turning point
A sound will not leave him
When the police arrive, the narrator hears a heartbeat and tries to act calm while the pressure rises.
- 05 / Ending & meaning
He exposes himself
Overwhelmed by the imagined sound, he confesses, showing that the tale’s strongest evidence comes from an unreliable mind.
Open each event in order. Before the ending, decide whether the heartbeat is evidence, guilt or both.
03 / Vocabulary
Build the words you need.
These 50 K12-friendly words and phrases come from the story world. Read the part of speech and IPA first, then read the English explanation before checking the Chinese meaning. Use Listen for Google's English pronunciation.
- dreadfully nervous极度紧张不安dreadfully = extremely
- sharpened my senses使我的感官变得敏锐made my senses more acute
- take the life of夺去某人的生命a formal phrase meaning kill
- go to work开始着手做某事begin an activity
- with foresight有预见地，事先考虑周全with careful planning ahead
- for seven long nights整整七个漫长的夜晚long adds emotional emphasis
- as black as pitch漆黑一片a comparison for complete darkness
- stone dead死透了，毫无生命迹象completely dead
- true真的，确实used to insist that something is correct
- dreadfully极其，非常to a very great degree
- acute敏锐的，严重的very strong or highly developed
- disease疾病an illness that affects a person
- dull使迟钝，使不敏锐make a sense or feeling less sharp
- hear all things听到一切声音notice every sound, even a quiet one
- vulture eye秃鹰般的眼睛an eye compared with a vulture's eye
- pale blue eye苍白的蓝眼睛an eye with a light blue colour
- evil eye邪恶的眼神a look that seems threatening or harmful
- whenever每当，无论何时at any time that something happens
- fancy想象，认为imagine or believe something
- object物体，对象a thing that can be seen or touched
- dissemble掩饰，假装hide the truth about your feelings or plans
- conceal隐藏keep something from being seen or known
- cunningly狡猾地，巧妙地in a clever way that hides a plan
- cautiously谨慎地with care because of possible danger
- unlatched打开插销的opened by releasing a simple fastener
- lantern提灯a portable light with a protective cover
- ray of light一束光线a narrow line of light
- stout结实的，粗壮的strong and solid in appearance
- resolve决心strong determination to do something
- precaution预防措施an action taken to prevent a problem
- sagacity睿智，判断力good judgement and practical wisdom
- chamber房间，卧室a private room, especially a bedroom
- stealthily偷偷地quietly so that nobody notices
- crept蹑手蹑脚地走moved slowly and quietly
- little by little一点一点地gradually, in small amounts
- grin咧嘴笑a wide smile, sometimes unpleasant
- chuckle轻声笑laugh quietly
- midnight午夜twelve o'clock at night
- motionless一动不动的not moving at all
- arouse suspicion引起怀疑make people think something may be wrong
- neighbor邻居a person who lives nearby
- shriek尖叫a loud, high cry
- drag拖，拉pull something along the ground
- dismember肢解cut a body into separate parts
- plank木板a long, flat piece of wood
- tub浴缸，大盆a large container for washing
- confess承认，供认admit that you did something wrong
- guilty有罪的，内疚的responsible for a crime or feeling bad about it
- louder and louder越来越响becoming louder over time
- buried beneath埋在……下面covered by something placed above it
- keep quiet保持安静make no sound or say nothing
- lose control失去控制be unable to manage your actions or feelings
- give oneself away暴露自己reveal a secret without intending to
- in spite of尽管despite something that might stop you
- all night long整夜during the whole night
- sudden fear突然的恐惧fear that begins quickly
- take the life of夺去某人的生命a formal phrase meaning kill
04 / Reading quiz
Show what you noticed.
Answer in short, clear English. Start speaking within five seconds, use one detail from the story, and do not worry about a perfect answer.
05 / After class
One small repeat keeps the skill.
Spend 5-8 minutes this week. Say the core answer, retell the story in four sentences, then change one sentence and say it again.
5-8 minutesComplete after the lesson.
What is the biggest problem in this story?
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