Question

partner reading 4 upon the eighth night i was more than usually cautious in opening the door. a watchs minute - hand moves more quickly than did mine. never before that night had i felt the extent of my own powers - of my sagacity. i could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph. to think that there i was, opening the door, little by little, and he not even to dream of my secret deeds or thoughts. i fairly chuckled at the idea, and perhaps he heard me; for he moved on the bed suddenly, as if startled. now you may think that i drew back - but no. his room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness (for the shutters were close fastened, through fear of robbers), and so i knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and i kept pushing it on steadily, steadily. 5 i had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening, and the old man sprang up in the bed, crying out - “whos there?” 6 i kept quite still and said nothing. for a whole hour i did not move a muscle, and in the meantime i did not hear him lie down. he was still sitting up in the bed listening; - just as i have done, night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall. 7 presently i heard a slight groan, and i knew it was the groan of mortal terror. it was not a groan of pain or of grief - oh, no! - it was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe. i knew the sound well. many a night, just at midnight, when all the world slept, it has welled up from my own bosom, deepening, with its dreadful echo, the terrors that distracted me. i say i knew it well. i knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although i chuckled at heart. i knew that he had been lying awake ever since the first slight noise, when he had turned in the bed. his fears had been ever since growing upon him. he had been trying to fancy them causeless, but could not. he had been saying to himself - “it is nothing but the wind in the chimney - it is only a mouse crossing the floor,” or “it is merely a cricket which has made a single chirp.” yes, he has been trying to comfort himself with these suppositions; but he had found all in vain. all in vain, because death, in approaching him, had stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim. and it was the mournful influence of the unperceived shadow that caused him to feel - although he neither saw nor heard - to feel the presence of my head within the room. 8 when i had waited a long time, very patiently, without hearing him lie down, i resolved to open a little - a very, very little crevice in the lantern. so i opened it - you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily - until, at length, a single dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot from out the crevice and full upon the vulture eye. 9 it was open - wide, wide open - and i grew furious as i gazed upon it. i saw it with perfect distinctness - all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in my bones; but i could see nothing else of the old mans face or person: for i had directed the ray as if by instinct, precisely upon the d - spot. 10 and now have i not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over - acuteness of the senses? - now, i say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. i knew that sound. paragraphs 4 - 6 turn & talk: summarize how the eighth night is different from the previous nights. paragraph 7 a. think & share: according to the narrator, why does the old man groan? b. write: what does the narrators response to the old man reveal about him?

Explanation:

For the "Turn & Talk" question about the eighth - night, the narrator is more confident and excited, and there is an incident where the old man is startled. For Paragraph 7A, the old man groans out of mortal terror due to the sense of impending doom. For Paragraph 7B, the narrator's response shows his lack of empathy and his disturbed mental state as he both pities and is amused by the old man's fear while planning his harm.

Answer:

• For "Turn & Talk": On the eighth night, the narrator is more confident and excited. When opening the door, a noise startles the old man, which is different from previous nights when the old man was not disturbed.
• For Paragraph 7A: According to the narrator, the old man groans because he is filled with mortal terror, sensing the presence of death and the narrator in the room, even though he can't see or hear clearly.
• For Paragraph 7B: The narrator's response reveals that he lacks empathy. He both pities and is secretly amused by the old man's fear. His actions and thoughts show his disturbed and calculating mental state as he is planning harm to the old man while observing his fear.