Lesson Plan

Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce, and the Unreliable Narrator

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This Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce, and the Unreliable Narrator lesson plan also includes:

Stories by Edgar Allan Poe and Ambrose Bierce provide readers with an opportunity to investigate unreliable narrators. The lesson plan begins with an activity about different types of point of view and continues as scholars apply their understanding of how writers use point of view to create the desired effect on readers. After a close reading of the stories, class members use evidence from the tales to determine whether the narrators can be trusted. To conclude the lesson plan, pupils rewrite a story from a different point of view.

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CCSS: Designed
Instructional Ideas
  • Save copying costs and provide links on classroom devices to the four short stories used in the lesson: "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," "The Tell-Tale Heart," "Masque of the Red Death," and "My Favorite Murder"
  • Provide class members with access to Poe's "Theory of Composition" and have them discuss whether or not they consider him a reliable narrator of his theories 
Classroom Considerations
  • Class members need access to devices with internet connections
  • The lesson may be used as a stand-alone or as a prequel to the lesson "Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce, and the Unreliable Biographers"
Pros
  • Includes a review of the different types of point of view
  • The lesson is carefully scaffolded and richly detailed
Cons
  • None