Transcript The Masque of the Red Death

The Masque of the Red Death
Notes and Test Review
VOCABULARY
Accord
Blasphemous
August
Cessation
Daunt
Decorum
Despairing
Impeded
Impetuous
Monotony
Peal
Disapprobation
Disconcerting
Embellish
Profuse
Propriety
Prostration
Reverie
Sagacious
Wanton
Vocabulary 1
• Accord: We are in accord concerning the
method of handling this problem.
• Blasphemous: Telling that sacrilegious joke is
blasphemous.
• August: The king was an august figure when
he sat on his throne.
Vocabulary 1
• Cessation: After the sudden cessation of the
car alarm, the silence seemed deep.
• Daunt: I am not daunted by your threats.
• Decorum: The students decorum at the dance
was excellent.
• Despairing: The woman’s despairing tears
touched the hearts of many.
Vocabulary 2
• Impeded: The pillar I sat behind impeded my
ability to see the stage.
• Impetuous: His impetuous behavior caused
him to make many mistakes.
• Monotony: There is so much monotony in my
life that I need a change.
• Peal: The bells pealed at noon to celebrate the
wedding.
Vocabulary 2
• Disapprobation: The unruly child faced the
disapprobation of his parents when they
learned of his behavior.
• Disconcerting: He has not responded to the
medicine and that is disconcerting.
• Embellish: He would embellish the room for
the party by hanging banners.
Vocabulary 3
• Profuse: Cutting that artery will cause profuse
bleeding.
• Propriety: Those who attend the club
meetings should conduct themselves with
propriety.
• Prostration: He was prostrated by illness and
could not attend school.
Vocabulary 3
• Reverie: The students lend themselves to
reverie during the long school days.
• Sagacious: The sagacious freshman knew not
to buy an elevator pass from the senior
attempting a clever ruse.
• Wanton: He had to drop out of the
presidential race when is wanton behavior
was exposed.
Edgar Allan Poe
Born in Boston
1809
Son of traveling
actors
Tragic life
Poe’s Life and Work
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•
•
•
Mother died of tuberculosis
Adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Allan
Studied at the University of Virginia
Gambling and drinking prevented him from continuing his
education
• 1836 married his 14 year old cousin Virginia Clemm
• 1846 Virginia Dies
• Poverty stricken and an alcoholic
Edgar Allan Poe
• Poe is known for his tales of mystery, horror,
and suspense
• King of the Gothic Genre
Literary Devices
• Allusion: Reference to a famous historical or
literary figure or event
• Serves to explain, clarify, or enhance whatever
subject
Literary Devices
• Symbolism: and object that is meant to represent
something else
• Universal symbols representing universally
recognizable ideas
• Invested Symbols give symbolic meaning by the way
the author uses them
The Masque of the Red Death
• The Plague
• Prince Prospero
• Wealthy followers
• Masquerade
Symbols
The 7 rooms
The colors
The directions East to West
The mysterious stranger
The Ebony clock
The masquerading guests
BLACK ROOM
VIOLET ROOM
WHITE ROOM
ORANGE ROOM
GREEN ROOM
PURPLE ROOM
BLUE ROOM
• To serve as lighting, there are
large bowls of burning coals
between the rooms.
 In
the black room there stands a
huge ebony grandfather clock.
• The decorations match the color of
each room.
 There
is a Gothic window in each
room which panes match the color
of the room.
 The
black room’s window panes are
the only exception: its panes are
“blood” red.
The Number 7
• 7 Deadly Sins
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Pride/Vanity
Envy
Gluttony
Lust
Anger
Greed
Sloth
• 7 Stages of Man
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Infancy
Childhood
Lover
Soldier
Justice
Old age
Dementia/ Death
How do the colors correspond with the two columns above?
Infancy
Childhood
Lover
Soldier
Justice
Old age
Dementia/ Death
BLACK ROOM
VIOLET ROOM
WHITE ROOM
Pride/Vanity
Envy
Gluttony
Lust
Anger
Greed
Sloth
ORANGE ROOM
GREEN ROOM
PURPLE ROOM
BLUE ROOM
Questions you will need to know the
answers to.
• Why do Prince
• To escape the
Prospero and his Red Death
followers retreat and/or death in
to his castle?
general.
Question #2
• There are 7 rooms
• Describe the
and each one is a
rooms that the
different color. The
masquerade ball
rooms sit in a zigzag
takes place in.
pattern and all the
decorations match
the chosen color.
Question #3
• Explain how
the party is
constantly
disrupted.
• Every time the
clock strikes off
another hour, the
orchestra stops
playing and the
people stop
dancing
Question #4
• Compare life outside the palace with
the life of the people Prospero
brought inside.
Question #4
• Inside
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–
–
–
–
–
Wealth
Fantasy
Life
Happiness
Health
Hope
• Outside
–
–
–
–
–
–
Poverty
Reality
Death/Destruction
Sorrow
Sickness/ disease
Despair
Question #5
• What do you learn
about Prospero's
character from his
desire to keep his
palace free of the
plague?
• He is afraid to die.
• He is prejudice against
the poor.
• He thinks he can cheat
death. (He thinks he
can buy his way out.)
Question #6
• What mood or
effect is created by
the colors and the
lighting in the
rooms of the ball?
• It causes a
dream-like
effect.
• Fantasy
Question #7
• Why does the
It symbolizes
clock have such
reality; their
a dramatic effect lives slowly
on the dancers?
ticking away.
Question #8
• Why does the
visitor frighten
the guests?
• Because he suddenly
and mysteriously
appears out of nowhere
• Because he looks like
someone with the Red
Death Plague
• Because he just stalks to
and fro and doesn't talk
Question #9
• List 6 aspects of how Poe builds terror in the
story:
– Description of the plague’s symptoms
– Doors welded shut; one couldn't leave even if one
wanted to
– Dim, pulsing lights from the burning coals
– Black room with the red panes
– Appearance and behavior of the intruder
– Clock constantly stopping the party
Question #10
• What is the
lesson of the
story?
• One cannot
escape death
Question #11
• Name what the
following
symbols
represent.
Symbols
• Prince Prospero
• Wealth and Prosperity
– Mans attempt to escape
death
• Masquerade
Fantasy; Escaping
Reality

Symbols
• The Masked figure
• The Number 7
• Death
The Red Death
• Seven Deadly Sins
Seven Stages of Man
BLACK ROOM
VIOLET ROOM
WHITE ROOM
ORANGE ROOM
GREEN ROOM
PURPLE ROOM
The 7 Rooms and the colors
BLUE ROOM