Part A: The theme of this story is that irrational fear tend to consume a person and must stay at

bay. The narrator falling asleep in the ship is key to him learning this lesson. Before that
happened he was completely obsessed with the possibility of him being buried alive.
Part B: Last year, one of my friends grew a fear of getting anything less than an A. At first we all
disregarded it as her just being a hard worker, but when she started getting 3 hours of sleep a
night and locking herself in her room, all of us grew concerned. Some of our other friends and I
told her parents and they blamed themselves for putting so much pressure on her. She started
seeing a psychologist and it took her 6 months to overcome and conquer her irrational fear, she
still has to check up every week to make sure it is all going fine.

3.05 Reading Journal

1. Poe describes the sensations of being buried alive. What imagery does Poe use to help
you hear, see, smell, and feel?
He describes the scent as simple suffocation. He describes the black around him as
silent and absolute. He puts you in the place of the person being buried alive by using
absolute words that signify the end.

2. The narrator suffers from catalepsy, a physical condition in which the individual cannot
move or speak for hours or, in extreme cases, for months. According to the narrators
explanation, what are some of the ways that one can tell a cataleptic is still living?
Friends could be aware of the situation or you could look at how much they havent
decayed.

3. What simile does the narrator use describing his return to consciousness? What does
the narrator suggest by using this simile and subsequent description?
Just as the day dawns to the friendless and houseless beggar who roams the streets
throughout the long desolate winter night He is saying he has nothing to llook forward to
when they day arrives.

4. As the narrator experiences fear, what techniques does Poe use to create suspense for
the reader?
He doesnt tell what will happen in this story and if he will be buried alive.

5. What is happening to the narrator here? Use evidence from the text to support your
answer.

He was awoken by a stranger in darkness. I sat erect. The darkness was total. I could
not see the figure of him who had woken me.

6. The narrator describes one of his dreams. What happens and what is the significance?
He was buried alive and is now dead. He sees all the unnatural ways people lie dead. It
is his worst fear.

7. How would you describe the narrators mental state? Are his actions rational?
He is in a state of fear and paranoia. Yes they are, because for him all this could be a
real possibility.

8. What techniques does Poe use in the second paragraph to build suspense? What is the
effect on you, the reader?
He says that in this instance something out of the ordinary happened when he awoke. It
fills us with dread because we know hes been buried alive.
9. Based on the descriptions here, what has happened to the narrator?
He has been buried alive.

10. How does changing sentence structure from long to short and choppy help build
suspense? What emotions do you feel as you read?
The pace becomes faster and we feel the narrators panic.

11. What has happened? If you were the narrator, what would you feel hearing these
voices?
He screamed and someone responded. I would feel both relief and fear. Fear because I
dont know who they are. Relief because someone could hear you.

12. The narrator explains how the circumstances of his night aboard the boat paralleled the
circumstances of his worst fears. What are the similarities that he experiences?

The space was tight just like a coffin. His hands were bound except not by what he
thought. He smelled earth but it was just from the ships load.

13. The narrator undergoes a major change. What did the narrator do in light of his
experience on the sailboat? Do you think his reaction is a typical one of someone facing
their fears?
He became freer and discarded his fears. Yes, it is relief from the imaginary constraints
fear bounds you in.

14. Think about the meaning of the last sentence. What is Poe saying in these final lines of
his story?
He is saying that a persons imagination creates illogical fears that could consume us
whole unless we do something to overcome them.