Think you’ve got your head wrapped around The Pit and the Pendulum? Put your knowledge to
the test. Good luck — the Stickman is counting on you!
Q. Obviously the pit and pendulum strike fear into the narrator—but what else does?
Death
Thirst
Women
The dark
Q. When are the narrator’s best thoughts formed?
When he’s the most afraid
In the dark
When he’s drunk
In the in-between state between consciousness and unconsciousness
Q. No one dies in this story, so how is it about death?
Poe makes us ponder death
The narrator wants to die
The narrator is homicidal
Everyone is actually dead
Q. Why can’t the narrator figure out the shape of the room in the dark?
There is no definite shape
There are no walls
It is meant to disorient the narrator
Because he dies first
Q. What do the candles remind the narrator of?
Angels
Burning at the stake
Warmth
Burning off his fingerprints