The Fall of the House of Usher

Paragraph numbers refer to The Project Gutenberg eBook of “The Fall of the House of Usher.”

Reading Check

1. The house is covered with fungi. (Paragraph 5)

2. Roderick Usher can only tolerate stringed instruments. (Paragraph 10)

3. He encounters Madeline only once before she dies. (Paragraphs 13-14)

4. The song is titled “The Haunted Palace.” (Paragraph 18)

5. He believes that the house is sentient. (Paragraph 19)

6. The floor of Madeline’s vault is made of copper. (Paragraph 22)

7. The narrator sees the blood red moon behind the house. (Paragraph 42)

Short Answer

1. Madeline has a wasting disease with frequent episodes of catalepsy. (Paragraph 14)

2. Roderick seems tremulous and fearful as if he were struggling to decide whether to disclose an oppressive secret. (Various paragraphs)

3. The narrator describes Roderick as being in a mood of “mad hilarity” and “restrained hysteria.” (Paragraph 26)