Problem
How would Fortunato describe his experience in the catacombs? Would he tell a different story than Montresor? What about an outside observer who happened to wander by and see the two men disappear underground?
The narrator's point of view determines many aspects of a story. For instance, point of view may restrict what the narrator knows about key events or about a particular character's motivation. If the narrator is unreliable or has a reason to misrepresent some elements of the story, point of view plays an even greater role in shaping what readers know, and when they know it.
Directions
Tell the story in "The Cask of Amontillado" using a different point of view than the one Edgar Allen Poe used in the original story. You can make the narrator a character in the story or someone outside the story who is recounting what he or she heard or imagined. Your story can be much shorter than Poe's, which probably took Poe days or weeks to write and polish. Some issues to consider when writing are outlined below.
1. Characters: Carefully examine the characters, looking for traits that might affect the story's outcome or rising action. What motivates each character? What is each character's cultural and social background? How might these elements affect how the story is told?
2. Point of View: Before you begin writing, imagine how shifting the story's point of view or narrator will change what readers know or see at various points in the story. What is unique about your narrator's perspective on the story? How will you portray each character, based on how the new narrator feels about him? Will the narrator of your version be reliable or unreliable?
3. Plot: Create your version of the story in a way that helps readers imagine the events from the point of view of the new narrator, which means the readers' perspective will be limited to what the new narrator would know.