The Raven
Study Questions
1. The Raven is called a narrative poem. Why?
2. What is the setting of The Raven?
3. How does the setting contribute to the mood of the poem?
4. List some things you know about the narrator of the poem. What textual clues support your answers?
5. The raven might be seen as a symbol. What might it represent? Explain.
6. In the last stanza of the poem, the narrator is trapped in the raven’s shadow. What does the shadow
symbolize? Explain your answer.
7. Who is Lenore? Where is she now? Quote the lines in the poem that indicate this.
8. Give a physical description of the raven.
9. What six things does the narrator say/ask to which the raven responds “Nevermore”?
A. ______________________________________________________________________________________
B. ______________________________________________________________________________________
C. ______________________________________________________________________________________
D. ______________________________________________________________________________________
E. ______________________________________________________________________________________
F. ______________________________________________________________________________________
10. In stanza 13, the narrator says Nevermore. Why?
11. Describe how the narrator’s emotions change throughout the poem.
12. Do you trust the speaker? Do you think he gives us an accurate version of reality, or is it possible that he is
making up or distorting some of these things? Explain.