1. Pair Work: Identify the themes of The Black Cat.
The Black Cat is a tale that leaves the reader somewhat perplexed. It certainly contains all the ingredients necessary to satisfy the appetite of any Poe enthusiast — an enigmatic narrator, alcohol and the effects thereof, mutilation, strangulation, murder, putrefaction, and, last but not least, one of Poe’s slight (but recurring) obsessions, perversity. Read the following themes that the story touches upon and choose three of them to elaborate on.
A. home B. violence C. drug and alcohol
D. justice F. guilt E. freedom and confinement
G. physical and psychological transformation 1) __________________________________________________________________
2) __________________________________________________________________
3) __________________________________________________________________
2. Group Work: Debate on “Nature or Nurture”.
The “nature versus nurture” debate concerns the relative importance of an individual’s innate qualities (“nature”, i.e. nativism, or innatism) versus personal experiences (“nurture”, i.e. empiricism or behaviorism) in determining or causing individual differences in physical and behavioral traits.
3. Solo Work: Writing Activity.
In The Black Cat, the unnamed narrator, from his prison cell, is writing the story of how everything in his life fell apart. Since he will die the next day, he wants to set the record straight, and tells us the story of his life. Please rewrite the story from the perspective of the narrator’s wife and add some details creatively, if necessary.
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