TFOTHOU 4 gr B & A

 GROUP B :

About the next paragraphs :

The narrator says he received a letter from his friend Roderick Usher, who was ill and requested his presence. The narrator then thinks about the house, and talks about his imagination. Is he crazy ?

some themes :

- Time and decadence ("ancient family," "long ages," time-honoured," "the long lapse of centuries")

- Insanity and inbreeding ("nervous agitation," "mental disorder," bodily illness," "ancient family," "the Usher race," "deficiency," "from sire to son," "direct line of descent")

- the air is full of disease ("an atmosphere peculiar," reeked," "pestilent," "mystic vapour," "leaden-hue")

- The narrator's trustworthiness ("sentiments," first singular impression," "the consciousness," "my superstition," "paradoxical," "a strange fancy," "ridiculous," "my imagination")

We read from paragraph 2 to 6 today. Here is the plot and the themes evoked in these :

Plot

Themes

2 : The narrator talks about a letter from a childhood's friend, Roderick Usher. He has a mental problem.

sickness & derangement of the humours : "mental disorder," "malady," "heart," "nervous agitation"

3 : He talks about his friend's family. The House of Usher is both the house AND the family.

Time : "very ancient," "always," "long lapse of centuries," "time honoured," "through long ages"

Legacy, Incest, Inbreeding : "Usher race," "direct line of descent," "undeviating transmission," "from sire to son," patrimony," "deficiency"

4 : He talks about his imagination, and about a vapour hanging about the house.

Can we trust the narrator ?

"childish," "impression", "consciousness," "superstition," "paradoxical," "sentiments," "terror," "a strange fancy," "ridiculous"

5 : He speaks about the dilapidation of the house.

decadence : "excessive antiquity," discoloration of ages," extraordinary dilapidation," "crumbling condition," "rotted for long years," "neglected," "extensive decay"

6 : He steps in the house, is ushered in by a valet, and will meet the master. He also meets the family physician.




 

Commentaires

Posts les plus consultés de ce blog

Of Mice and Men correction

Interstellar 8

Interstellar 4