The Murders in the Rue Morgue

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

Consider your prior knowledge regarding the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. How did the Industrial Revolution affect societies? What were some of the positive effects of industrialization? What were some of the negative effects?

Teaching Suggestion: This Short Answer Question orients students with both the setting of the story as well as the context of Poe’s work: mid-19th century cosmopolitan Paris. Poe’s story centers on C. Auguste Dupin and an unnamed narrator as they use their amateur investigation skills to solve a murder in Paris. In fact, the city of Paris had the first police force with a detective branch in the period of European democratization, and the founder of the detective branch, Eugène-François Vidocq, inspired Poe to write the character of Dupin, which would in turn inspire Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s character of Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot. Poe alludes to the dual effects of industrialization, in which modernization and progress improved the standard of living for populations while simultaneously eradicating the authentic communities that existed prior to industrialization. Ultimately, industrialization resulted in an amalgamation of cultures and languages that had the effect of isolating individuals and segregating them from one another in times of crisis. They were therefore unable to come together to find solutions to common problems such as the unsolved murder in Poe’s story. This question connects with the themes of Social Isolation Through Transience and Language as a Social Barrier.

• National Geographic discusses the effect of the Industrial Era on society in “Industrialization, Labor, and Life.”
• This chapter from Metzner’s Crescendo of the Virtuoso (1998) highlights the contribution of Eugène-François Vidocq in establishing Paris’s first police detective branch.

Short Activity

With “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” Edgar Allan Poe is often credited with publishing the world’s first detective story. Working in small groups, select an additional detective story to share with the class. In your presentation, present the background of the author, a summary of the story’s plot, and an analysis of the writing’s impact on the literary context of the time. Also include any relevant visuals, as well as video and/or movie adaptations of the story. After listening to your classmates’ presentations, consider the presence of the theme The Power of Rationality among the different detective characters.

Teaching Suggestion: This Short Activity invites students to consider the literary genre of mystery and detective stories in the context of group work. Students may use the links below to help them select their chosen piece. This Short Activity directly segues into the Personal Connection Prompt.

• PBS’s “American Experience” explores the effect of Poe’s detective story on crime in Boston, Massachusetts.
• This list compiles the most “essential” authors of mystery novels.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the story.

What are the characteristics of a good detective? Based on popular depictions of detectives in media and literature, what are some common traits that these characters have?

Teaching Suggestion: This Personal Connection Prompt invites students to consider the characterization of detectives in mainstream media in relation to the theme The Power of Rationality. Poe’s Dupin served as the archetype for future Western detectives in literature; in fact, his “tales of ratiocination,” or “tales of logical reasoning” created the blueprint for deductive approaches to gathering information in subsequent detective stories. As a result, Poe’s story was influential not only in introducing a new form of mystery in the literary genre but also in establishing the quintessential characteristics of a detective that are commonplace in contemporary society. This prompt segues directly into the Discussion/Analysis Prompt.

• “‘Inductive’ vs. ‘Deductive’: How to Reason Out Their Differences”

Differentiation Suggestion: For more advanced classes, the following question may be added to the above prompt: Using the source below, consider the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning. Which type of reasoning do the detectives in your example use? Why?