The Masque of the Red Death Study Questions
FIRST: Add the following words and definitions to your Literary Terms paper.   Protagonist, AntagonistImagery, (For Imagery, copy definition 2a)
SECOND:(At school copy the questions below onto your paper or download and print this page from home.) Answer these questions as completely as possible.
THIRD (optional): Now visit this Web Page to read an Analysis of this story.

1.  The "Red Death" had long devastated the country. In this sentence, devastated means______________.


2. In this story, the color red represents _______________.


3. Which detail proves that the Red Death was a horrible plague?


4: Even though Prince Prospero is the Protagonist, he isn't necessarily the "good guy." Why is he still considered the protagonist?


5: Why is the "Red Death" the antagonist of the story?


6: What does the following passage mean?
The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within.


7: Why did the people at the masque(party) tend to avoid the black room with red windows?


8: What is the author's tone in the story?


9: Once the disease, Red Death, was contracted, a person lived for _____________________.


10: Why was Prince Prospero angry with the masked figure?


11: Why did Prince Prospero decide to confront the masked figure?


12: What is the theme of the story?


13: What effect did the large Ebony clock have on the guests every time it chimed?


14: Use five vivid words to describe the Red Death image.


15: The mask which concealed the visage was made so nearly to resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse that the closest scrutiny must have had difficulty in detecting the cheat.  Explain what this means.

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