Assignment
"The Pit and the Pendulum"
I. Introduction
A. Written by Edgar Allan Poe
B. Edgar Allan Poe writes short story fiction of horror and death
C. Story takes place in the 13th century between 1486-1492
D. Thesis Statement: "The Pit and the Pendulum," by Edgar Allan Poe brings in a 1st person narrative horror story of torture and the choice between life or death.
E. Protestants being triedfor going against the Catholicbeliefs
F. Imprison, torture, or death to all non-Catholics
II. Background of the Spanish Inquisition
A. Established is 1478 (Jennifer Bouchard 1)
B. Religious persecution during that time (Zambroski 2)
C. Known for their brutal torture and imprisonments (Jennifer Bouchard 1)
D. Burning at the stake and death by torture to make them confess confession (Jennifer Bouchard 1)
III. Setting
A. Story told in 1st person narration
B. Toledo, Spain in the late 1400's (Jennifer Bouchard 1)
C. Being held in front of judges to determine the faith of our narrator (Poe 746)
D. Being tried for his religious beliefs (Jennifer Bouchard 1)
IV. After the trial
A. Our narrator isn't sure why he is here or in front of judges
1. He thinks it might be because of his religious beliefs (Zambroski 2)
2. Does not care much for Catholic belief (Poe 749)
B. Being sentenced to death by torture
1. Spanish Inquisition was known to torture their prisoners to the brink of death. (Poe746)
C. The narrator starts getting sick (Poe 746)
D. He loses all senses of what the judges are saying (Jennifer Bouchard 1)
E. Everything around him begins to darken, and he passes out (Zambroski 2)
V. Darkness all around
A. The narrator awakens and sees nothing but darkness all around him (Zambroski 2)
B. Still disoriented, he begins to wonder if he is dead (Zambroski 2)
C. Though he cannot see, he starts to explore the area.
1. Walls are slimy and cold (Poe 748)
2. Stone floors are damp (Poe 748)
D. Uses a torn piece of cloth from his robe to mark his starting spot (Poe 749)
E. Counting the paces
1. Counts fifty paces then fall from the slippery floor (Poe 749)
2. Notices he is inches away from falling into a pit (Jennifer Bouchard 1)
3. Forty more paces and passes out from exhaustion (Poe 749)
4. Gets back to the torn cloth; figures out he is in Toledo (Jennifer Bouchard 1)
VI. Slips in and out of consciousness
A. Our narrator discovers food and water
1. He devours the food and gulps down the water (Zambroski 6)
2. Discovers he has been drugged and passes out (Zambroski 6)
B. Wakes up and finds himself tied to a wooden slab (Jennifer Bouchard 1)
C. Still delirious from being drugged, he still slips in an out (Jennifer Bouchard 1)
D. Finally realizes that he needs to get out (Zambroski 6)
VII. Time
A. He starts to vision a time as a pendulum moving back and forth like that on a clock (Poe 752)
B. The pendulum moves slowly, making a hissing sound with every swing
1. Describes it with a razor-sharp blade descending closer with every swing (Poe 752)
2. As time moves on, the blade gets closer to his chest ready to slice it open (Poe 752)
C. The demon eyes of his tormentors stare down at him as time starts to speed up (Jennifer Bouchard 1)
VIII. The decision of life or death
A. After vigorously moving, he frees an arm (Jennifer Bouchard 1)
B. Instead of scaring the rats away, he uses them to his advantage
1. Takes the food that was put in there for him, and places it on the rope (Zambroski 2)
2. Rats start chewing the ropes the food was placed on (Zambroski 7)
C. Our narrator is free and gives his tormentors a quick smirk (Poe 756)
D. Walls start getting hot as he realizes they been set on fire (Jennifer Bouchard 1)
E. Shortly after, he notices the dungeon is getting smaller; walls are closing in (Zambroski 8)
F. The walls are pushing him closing into the pit, and he needs to decide how he wants to die, by burning or falling (Jennifer Bouchard 1)
G. As our narrator begins to faint, a hand reaches out to grab him
1. General Lasalle saves our narrator (Poe 756)
2. The French army has taken over Toledo (Poe 756).