The Best of Edgar A. Poe

Name _______________________________________________________ Date________________________

The Masque of Red Death

1. What was The Red Death?

2. Why did Prince Prospero gather 1,000 of his subjects into his castle?

3. How many rooms were there in use the night of the masquerade ball? What were their respective colors?

4. For what did the orchestra pause each hour?

5. Why did the newly arrived masked figure draw attention?

6. What was Prince Prospero's reaction to the figure?

7. Who unmasked the figure?

8. How did the story end?

9. What is the moral of the story?

10. What single effect was Poe conveying with this story?

11. In what ways can one see a gothic influence in The Masque of Red Death?

12. Where is the climax of the story?

13. Explain the significance of Prince Prospero's name.

14. Explain the significance of "three thousand and six hundred seconds of the Time that flies."

Vocabulary - The Masque Of The Red Death

Part I: Using Prior Knowledge and Contextual Clues

Below are the sentences in which the vocabulary words appear in the text. Read the sentence. Use any
clues you can find in the sentence combined with your prior knowledge, and write what you think the
underlined words mean on the lines provided.

1. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous.

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2. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince's own eccentric yet august taste.

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3. It was a voluptuous scene, the masquerade.

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4. ... the view of the whole extent is scarcely impeded.

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5. ...produced so wild a look upon the countenances.

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6. ...it was a gay and magnificent revel.

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7. He had directed, in great part, the movable embellishments of the seven chambers.

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8. ...there comes from the near clock of ebony a muffled peal more solemnly emphatic than any which reaches
their ears who indulge in the more remote gaieties of the other apartments.

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9. In truth the masquerade license of the night was nearly unlimited...

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Part II. Determining the Meaning -- Match the vocabulary words to their definitions.

___ 1. pestilence                     A. Giving, unrestrained pleasure to the senses

___ 2. august                           B. Ornaments

___ 3. voluptuous                   C. A usually fatal epidemic disease

___ 4. impeded                       D. A costume party; disguise or false outward show

___ 5. countenances                E. Inspiring awe or admiration; majestic

___ 6. revel                             F. Obstructed

___ 7. embellishments             G. Festivity or celebration

___ 8. emphatic                       H. Faces

___ 9. masquerade                  I. Bold and definite in expression or action