OBJECTIVES
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1. To introduce new vocabulary before reading the short story by using prepared vocabulary sheets.
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2. To provide practice in writing an opinion essay.
PROCEDURE
“The Murders in the Rue Morgue” is a difficult story for middle school students to read on their own. For this reason, the story has been divided into three sections. As a suggestion, the first part of the story should not be included.
The first portion begins with: “Residing in Paris during the spring and part of the summer of 18—, . . .” It introduces Dupin and the narrator, and the routine of their daily lives.
The second section begins: “Let it not be supposed from what I have just said . . .” This is the majority of the story containing the discussion of the crime which has been committed.
The third section begins: “Be ready,” said Dupin, “with your pistols . . .” This is the conclusion which reveals the solution to the crime.
Because of the difficult vocabulary, it is best for the teacher to read the short story aloud to the students while they follow along in the text. It will be necessary to stop at frequent intervals, perhaps after several paragraphs, to paraphrase what has just been read. The students use a journal to record the story’s events in their own words.
ACTIVITY
Poe’s murderer in the short story is an orangutan. In several paragraphs discuss your opinion of his choice of an exotic animal as the murderer in the story. Was Poe reluctant to use a human being as a murderer? Does the fear and fascination of the people of his time with the exotic and unusual animals trapped and brought to be put on exhibit influence his choice?
“The Murders in Rue Morgue”
Vocabulary—Part I
Complete each sentence with the correct vocabulary word.
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illustrious
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grotesque
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enamored
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counterfeit
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analytic
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sallied forth
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petulantly
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resolved
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abstract
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superfluities
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candor
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1. His ___________ in revealing personal secrets was much appreciated.
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2. The gargoyle on the building had a ___________ face.
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3. The money was not real but ______________.
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4. His ideas were not easy to understand because they were so ___________________.
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5. The small group _________________ excitedly to explore the zoo.
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6. She thrust out her lower lip _______________ when she didn’t get her way.
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7. Abraham Lincoln was an ______________ statesman.
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8. The ____________ of decoration were wasteful.
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9. The boy was ________________ of the girl.
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10. Dupin’s _____________ mind enabled him to solve the mystery.
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11. He was _____________ that all loose ends be tied up.
“The Murders in Rue Morgue”
Vocabulary—Part 2
Choose the letter of the correct word for each blank.
a. contention b. Napoleons c. aperture d. excoriations e. semblance f. transpired g. elicited h. snuff i. endeavor j. gendarme
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____ 1. argument, strife
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____ 2. outward appearance
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____ 3. attempt
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____ 4 drew out
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____ 5. French coins
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____ 6. to happen; occur
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____ 7. French police officer
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____ 8. ground tobacco
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____ 9. opening, hole
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____ 10. places where skin has rubbed off
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k. bayonet n. garrets q. extol
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l. corroborate o. expostulate r. egress
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m. depose p. throttle s. perpetrator
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____ 11. to choke; strangle
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____ 12. praise highly
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____ 13. exit
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____ 14. small rooms under a sloping roof
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____ 15. person committing a crime
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____ 16. argue with another’s opinions
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____ 17. to confirm
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____ 18. give testimony under oath
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____ 19. daggerlike weapon attached to a rifle
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aa. soliloquy dd. habiliment gg. remonstrance
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bb. denizens ee. prodigious hh. cognizant
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cc. trellis ff. paroxysms ii. queues
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____ 20. aware; having knowledge
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____ 21. clothing
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____ 22. sudden and violent outbursts
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____ 23. protest
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____ 24. talking to oneself
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____ 25. persons who live in a particular place
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____ 26. single braid of hair; pigtail
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____ 27. large amount
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____ 28. crossed strips of wood or metal used as a screen or support
“The Murders in Rue Morgue”
Vocabulary—Part 3
Use context clues to determine the definition that matches the underlined vocabulary word in each sentence.
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1. The sailor held tightly to the cudgel for protection.
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cloth book club
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2. The woman gesticulated at the car that splashed mud on her.
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smiled gestured sighed
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3. Her sad countenance was due to the death of her dog.
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face mother problem
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4. The police were able to capture the perpetrator of the crime.
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aircraft moment person who was guilty
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5. The atrocities committed in Nazi prison camps are well documented.
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items cruelties sins
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6. After tripping over the dog, he lay prostrate on the floor.
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flat playing modeling
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7. The robber was culpable in committing the bank robbery.
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able to overdue guilty
SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
Arthur Conan Doyle was born in England on May 22, 1859. He died July 7, 1930. Doyle, who was a medical doctor, created the world’s best known fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes. The first Holmes story, “A Study In Scarlet”, appeared in “Beeton’s Christmas Annual” in 1887. It was followed by four novels and fifty-six stories about the sleuth. These included “The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes” (1894), and “The Hound of the Baskervilles” (1902). The last book by Doyle featuring the detective, “The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes,” was published in 1927. The detective and his companion, Dr. Watson, were so popular with the public that when Doyle tried to kill him off, he had to bring him back in “The Return of Sherlock Holmes” (1904).
Doyle also wrote science fiction novels featuring Professor Challenger in “The Lost World” (1911) and “The Poison Belt” (1912). It was his historical novels, “Sir Nigel” (1906), “Micah Clarke” (1889), and “The White Company” (1890) for which he would have liked to have been remembered. He was knighted in 1902.
SHERLOCK HOLMES, DETECTIVE
Sherlock Holmes, the most famous detective in fiction, was modeled on Dr. Joseph Bell, Doyle’s professor of surgery at Edinburgh University. Doyle was impressed by his professor’s ability to constantly surprise students by making a snap diagnosis or an unexpected conclusion based on logical “detection.” Doyle understood the rapid progress being made in the natural sciences in the 19th century and, as a result, featured the scientific approach in his stories. He believed that close observation of factual details was the only sound basis for coming to sensible conclusions. His character, Sherlock Holmes, uses scientific investigation in solving crimes. Deduction is his principal tool, with observation a close second.
Holmes is portrayed as a six-foot tall, slender, hawk-nosed man who wears a deer-stalker cap and Inverness cape, clenching a calabash pipe in his teeth while seeking clues with the aid of a magnifying glass. He shares living quarters with Dr. John Watson, who narrates his adventures.
Holmes prefers to stay home at No. 221-B Baker Street, London, England. In his rooms, he listens to a client recount a puzzling case and frequently knows the answer to the problem before the person finishes speaking. A particularly difficult case is considered a “three pipe problem” requiring smoke and meditation for a satisfactory solution. When it is necessary to a case, Holmes is a master of disguise, often able to fool even Watson.
According to Watson, “Without his scrapbooks, his chemicals, and his homely untidiness, he was an uncomfortable man.”
SYNOPSIS
“The Red-Headed League”
Mr. Jabez Wilson applies for a job advertised in the newspaper by the Red-Headed League. Since he fits all of the particulars specified, he is hired for the job: copying the “Encyclopaedia Brittanica” in long hand. After being on the job for two months, he arrives one day to find the door locked with a sign attached notifying him that the Red- Headed League has been dissolved. At this point, he seeks assistance from Sherlock Holmes.
The story goes in a totally different direction than the reader expects as Holmes foils bank robbers who have used the cellar of Jabez Wilson’s business establishment to dig underground and up under the basement floor of the bank which abuts his building.
