“The Oval Portrait” by Edgar Allan Poe Quiz and Close Reading Bundle

Item description

Evaluate reading comprehension, encourage critical thinking, prepare for unexpected absences, and eliminate take-home assessment planning with this bundle of materials for teaching the Gothic short story “The Oval Portrait” by Edgar Allan Poe. Included are the following: a plot-based quiz, a close reading worksheet, a craft analysis activity, a vocabulary application exercise, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, the public domain narrative, and answer keys. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. 

By engaging with these materials, students will:

• Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly
• Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
• Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
• Choose the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
• Discern the intended effects of the author’s stylistic choices
• Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
• Compare two characters
• Conduct brief research into Poe’s personal life to explain autobiographical parallels between the author and the plot of the text
• Apply knowledge of literary devices including alliteration, assonance, metaphor, simile, and more
• Support claims and inferences with sound logic and relevant evidence
• Write about Gothic fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision

In the event of a teacher absence, the following supplemental items are also provided:

• Low-prep lesson plan for unexpected absences. This comes pre-filled with learning targets and agenda items. Space is also designated for classroom teachers to identify the name(s) of their class(es), the hour(s) of their class(es), student leaders, and upcoming homework assignments and assessments.
• Bell ringer activity. Help a substitute teacher engage students (and find time to take attendance) with a thematically linked writing prompt.
• Miscellaneous performance tasks handout. Extend student thinking and learning in the event of unexpected absences with this item outlining creative tasks pertaining to the short story. For example, students may write poetry or journal entries from the perspective of a character; write a brief retelling of the narrative from a different character’s perspective; explore the thematic significance of stories; review the overall quality of the narrative with objectivity and supporting evidence; and more.

Materials are available for teaching a variety of texts such as:

• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
• Feed by M.T. Anderson
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
• The Adventures of Ulysses by Bernard Evslin
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
• The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells