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This short story bundle includes vocabulary games, comprehension quizzes, and close reading inference worksheets to ensure high school students can read with a purpose and exercise critical thinking and literary analysis skills. Four narratives, each written by Edgar Allan Poe, are featured: “The Oval Portrait,” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “The Sphinx,” and “The Imp of the Perverse.” Answer keys and copies of the public domain texts are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By engaging with these activities, students will:

• Read for literal comprehension
• Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
• Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
• Determine the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
• Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques
• Describe tone in context
• Determine the function of given excerpts
• Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
• Apply knowledge of literary devices with emphasis on hyperbole, paradox, situational irony, and more
• Conduct brief research into Poe’s personal life to explain autobiographical parallels between the author and the plot of “The Oval Portrait”
• Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
• Write about fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision
• Come to class better prepared to discuss literature