Inquiry Project

Created Feb. 7, 2024 by Devin Carrier

Inquiry Project

By: Terick Warner, Jonathan Alfonso, and Devin Carrier

Lesson Outline:

  • Driving question
  • Video grabber
  • Poe bio
  • Discussion on mental illness in The Tell Tale Heart
  • Culminating activity
  • Write a letter to the main character discussing his mental illness
  • Presentation
  1. Driving Question: How is mental illness dealt with in Poe’s A Tell Tale Heart and in what ways could it be dealt with better?
  2. Grabber:

The simpsons recreated Poe’s story “The Tell Tale Heart.” In this grabber the students will see a more modern representation of Poe’s story which will grab their attention and lead to more discussion on the topic. The video makes this discussion more relevant because the students will see a popular cartoon depicting an old story that they have never heard of before this assignment. A class led discussion after the video will compare the story and video which will spark their interests even more.

An introduction to Poe is essential to grab the student’s attention. With the ability to connect and know who he was, the students can get a sense of his mental instabilities. By reading his biography it puts a face onto the person whose story they are reading which is important for secondary students. Secondary students want to learn things that have to do with the real world, and by connecting Poe’s biography with his story “The Tell Tale Heart” they can see how his mental health is an issue to be talked about.    

  1. Discussion:Read the following two links and discuss the main character’s mental condition and how it is dealt with in the story: https://www.davidschlachter.com/writings/portraithttp://www.humanillnesses.com/original/Pre-Sei/Schizophrenia.html
  • The first reading is an analysis of the mental illness of the main character in Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart” while the second reading is an overview of the symptoms, causes, and treatments of schizophrenia. The students will read the two articles and discuss the symptoms and signs that the main character may or may not have schizophrenia. The students should also discuss how the character’s mental illness is treated in the story as well as how it could be treated or dealt with in a better way. The goal of this discussion is for students to analyze the story in depth and think more about the treatment of mental illness in the past and how it has changed over time. This should be an interesting and engaging activity for the students and will give them an opportunity to share thoughts and discuss their feelings about the book and/or the treatment of mental illness.
  1. Culminating Activity:
  • For our culminating activity we will have the students write a letter to Edgar Allen Poe and create a poster to showcase a mental illness that they chose. The students will be working in pairs and will communicate with the teacher on their progress. The letter will be on the topics we have discussed during the week and the students will give their unique, modern perspective to a mental illness patient (Poe) during the early 1800s. We will give them examples of letters that will give them an idea of what we are looking for in the activity. Their poster will be about the research they have done and a specific mental illness that we have talked about. They will work together to promote teamwork and be able to show off their own creativity in a hands on activity. The poster and letter will also include what they believe to be the best solution for people suffering from mental illness. This will provide real world application that students are often looking for in their work. The students will be graded on if they meet all the criteria that we are looking for and if they did their best work. This is an English course so we want to promote the ability to write at an appropriate level which is why we will be grading them on their organization, style, and grammar. For the poster we will be grading on content, presentation, conventions, knowledge gained, and use of class time. This will make sure that the students are using the time in class that we will give them and give a standard outline of what they need to do in their poster. The students will have free range on how they present which will promote their own style and create a learning environment where the students are leading the learning.



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