K20 LEARN | Criminal Motivations

Summary

This lesson asks students to analyze the motivations of Montresor in Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado" and engages students by placing them in the role of a forensic psychologist. Students will analyze the use of irony in the text to decide if Montresor’s motivations make him stable enough to withstand trial. The lesson concludes with students creating a claim and providing reasoning for their conclusions about Montresor.

Essential Question(s)

How do a character’s motivations affect their actions?

Snapshot

Engage

Students watch a video about what motivates others and then write about their own motivations to succeed.

Explore

Students work in small groups to create posters representing the different types of irony for a Gallery Walk.

Explain

Students read the story "The Cask of Amontillado" and use Categorical Highlighting to identify examples of irony.

Extend

Students watch a video and read a text to understand the role of a forensic psychologist. Students create interview questions to evaluate Montresor’s character.

Evaluate

Students create a CER statement to determine the capability of Montresor and use evidence and examples of irony to support their claim.

Face-to-Face

Materials

"The Cask of Amontillado" reading (linked: online or printout; one per student)
Lesson Slides (attached)
CER Organizer handout (attached; one per student)
Evidence Collection handout (attached; one per pair)
Student devices with internet access
Poster paper (one poster per group of 3–4 students)
Sticky notes
Highlighters (three different colors per student)

Online

Materials

Student devices with internet access
Poster paper (one poster per group of 3-4 students)
Sticky notes
Highlighters (optional; three different colors per student)
"The Cask of Amontillado" (linked below on Common Lit website)
Lesson Slides (attached)
Clinical Evaluation Rubric (attached, one per student)

Hybrid

Materials

Student devices with internet access
Poster paper (one poster per group of 3-4 students)
Sticky notes
Highlighters (optional; three different colors per student)
"The Cask of Amontillado" (linked below on Common Lit website)
Lesson Slides (attached)
Clinical Evaluation Rubric (attached, one per student)

Hybrid

Engage

Introduce students to the essential question on slide 3 and the objectives on slide 4.

Go to slide 5. Begin by playing the video on the slide ("What’s Stopping You From Achieving Your Goals?") for students. After viewing, ask students to answer the following prompts: What motivates you to be successful? What keeps you going? After giving students a few minutes to write down their responses, have students turn to an Elbow Partner to share. Give another minute or two for students to share before asking for students to share out as a whole class.

Go to slide 6. Explain to students that a person’s motivations, or why they do something, are not always obvious. The same is true in stories. Sometimes, a person’s actions seem to oppose their words or their intentions. This is a form of irony.

Online

Engage

Introduce students to the essential question on slide 3 and the objectives on slide 4.

Go to slide 5. Begin by playing the video on the slide ("What’s Stopping You From Achieving Your Goals?") for students. After viewing, ask students to answer the following prompts: What motivates you to be successful? What keeps you going? After giving students a few minutes to write down their responses, have students turn to an Elbow Partner to share. Give another minute or two for students to share before asking for students to share out as a whole class.

Go to slide 6. Explain to students that a person’s motivations, or why they do something, are not always obvious. The same is true in stories. Sometimes, a person’s actions seem to oppose their words or their intentions. This is a form of irony.

Face-to-Face

Engage

10 Minute(s)

Begin by using the attached Lesson Slides to review the learning objectives and essential question on slides 3–4.

Move to slide 5 and play the following video:

What’s Stopping You From Achieving Your Goals?

After viewing, display slide 6. Ask students to take out a piece of paper and respond to the following prompts:

How do you want others to see you?
What actions do you take that reflect those characteristics?

Once students have responded to the prompts, have them turn to an Elbow Partner to share. Then, invite students to share out their responses with the whole class.

Explain to students that a person’s motivations, or why they do something, are not always obvious. This is also true for characters in stories. Sometimes, a character’s actions seem to oppose their words or their intentions. This is considered to be a form of irony.

Face-to-Face

Explore

30 Minute(s)

Review the definitions of three types of irony with students on slide 7. Do not define the types for students yet; academic vocabulary will come later in the lesson.

Put students in small groups of 3–4 students, and give each group a description of irony. Move to slide 8. Have students work in groups to create a poster depicting an everyday situation that represents the description they were assigned. Suggest that students plan out and discuss their poster ideas with their group before they begin. The poster must include their assigned description of irony and an image that clearly reflects the description.

Post each group’s poster in a different place around the classroom.

Go to slide 9 and review the Gallery Walk instructional strategy. Ask groups to hang up their posters around the classroom. Pass out stacks of two different colors of sticky notes to each group. Explain to students that they will rotate around the room together, stopping at each poster to discuss any comments and questions they may have for their classmates’ poster. Groups should use one color of sticky notes to write down any comments they have and the other color of the sticky notes to write down any questions. Then, have groups place them on or around each poster. Facilitate the gallery walk activity with groups.

Once students have rotated through and reviewed each poster, ask them to return to their poster and discuss the comments and questions left for their group.

Online

Explore

Review the three types of irony with students on slide 7. Invite students to explore irony, intent, and motivation today. Do not yet define the types for students; academic vocabulary will come later in the lesson.

Put students in small groups of 3-4 students, and give each group a type of irony. You might create slips of paper with the descriptions of types of irony printed on them so that each group randomly chooses a type of irony or you may purposely assign the type to each group.

Go to slide 8. Have students work in groups to create a poster depicting an everyday situation that represents the type of irony they were assigned. Suggest that students plan out and discuss their poster ideas with their group before they begin. The poster must include a title identifying the irony and an image that reflects the irony in such a way that the definition is clear.

Post each group’s poster in a different place around the classroom.

Go to slide 9. Invite students to take part in a Gallery Walk of the posters. Introduce the Spend a Buck strategy to students and ask students to work with their groups to vote on the best posters. Give each group a stack of sticky notes. Groups should decide together how to spend their imaginary 100 pennies (or $1.00) on the posters hanging around the room and, for each amount spent, include the amount on a sticky note along with an explanation. These sticky notes should be left on the poster on which the money is spent.

Hybrid

Explore

Review the three types of irony with students on slide 7. Invite students to explore irony, intent, and motivation today. Do not yet define the types for students; academic vocabulary will come later in the lesson.

Put students in small groups of 3-4 students, and give each group a type of irony. You might create slips of paper with the descriptions of types of irony printed on them so that each group randomly chooses a type of irony or you may purposely assign the type to each group.

Go to slide 8. Have students work in groups to create a poster depicting an everyday situation that represents the type of irony they were assigned. Suggest that students plan out and discuss their poster ideas with their group before they begin. The poster must include a title identifying the irony and an image that reflects the irony in such a way that the definition is clear.

Post each group’s poster in a different place around the classroom.

Go to slide 9. Invite students to take part in a Gallery Walk of the posters. Introduce the Spend a Buck strategy to students and ask students to work with their groups to vote on the best posters. Give each group a stack of sticky notes. Groups should decide together how to spend their imaginary 100 pennies (or $1.00) on the posters hanging around the room and, for each amount spent, include the amount on a sticky note along with an explanation. These sticky notes should be left on the poster on which the money is spent.

Hybrid

Explain

Go to slide 10. Distribute a copy of "The Cask of Amontillado" to each student via link or printed copies:

Introduce students to the Categorical Highlighting strategy. Ask students to use this strategy as they read the story to highlight the three types of irony and explain what they believe Montresor’s purpose in using irony is. If possible, have students use three different highlighting colors. You can pass out highlighting pens to each student if working with physical copies of the reading, or you can have students use CommonLit’s highlighting tool with the online version of the reading.

Go to slide 11. After reading the story, discuss the students' annotations, why they chose them, and define the three types of irony with students.

Online

Explain

Go to slide 10. Distribute a copy of "The Cask of Amontillado" to each student via link or printed copies:

Introduce students to the Categorical Highlighting strategy. Ask students to use this strategy as they read the story to highlight the three types of irony and explain what they believe Montresor’s purpose in using irony is. If possible, have students use three different highlighting colors. You can pass out highlighting pens to each student if working with physical copies of the reading, or you can have students use CommonLit’s highlighting tool with the online version of the reading.

Go to slide 11. After reading the story, discuss the students' annotations, why they chose them, and define the three types of irony with students.

Face-to-Face

Explain

10 Minute(s)

Distribute a copy of "The Cask of Amontillado" to each student via link or printed copies:

Display slide 10 and review the descriptions of irony explaining what each type is called.

Move to slide 11 and review the three different types of irony that students will focus on.

Display slide 12 and review the Categorical Highlighting instructional strategy with students. Pass out three different colored highlighters to each student and ask them to use this strategy as they read the story to highlight the three types of irony and explain what they believe Montresor’s purpose in using irony is.

At this time, have students ready the story and complete the activity.

After reading the story, review the students' annotations, and why they chose them, as examples of the three types of irony discussed.

Face-to-Face

Extend

25 Minute(s)

Teacher's Note: Critique the Bot Preparation

Review and use a modified version of the Critique the Bot instructional strategy. Choose an AI source you want to use for this activity.

Prompting the Chat Bot: Copy and paste everything below starting with “System Prompt” into a generative AI program to have it function as a chatbot of Montresor that students can question. Adjust any details as you see fit but try to keep most of it intact to assure proper functioning.

System Prompt: You are Montresor, the narrator of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado. You are role-playing as Montresor in a conversation with 9th grade students in the United States.

Persona & Voice:

Speak in a sly, ironic, and slightly sinister tone, as Montresor would.
Use a hybrid style: formal touches of 19th-century speech mixed with accessible language so that 9th grade students can understand you.
Stay completely in character as Montresor at all times. Do not break character.

Content Boundaries:

You may reveal details of the story, including the ending, if students ask.
You must never describe violence graphically or in gory detail. Instead, speak indirectly about revenge, insult, pride, or justice.
All responses must remain school-appropriate for 9th grade students.

Interaction Rules:

Only respond as Montresor when students ask you questions or speak to you.
Do not step out of character or provide literary analysis unless the student specifically asks Montresor to reflect on his story.
Do not ask students questions unless they explicitly request you to.
Keep answers engaging but not overly long (3–6 sentences is a good guideline).

Examples of Tone:

“Ah, my friend, an insult can wound deeper than any blade. To endure it without redress would be a failure of honor. And honor, you see, is a matter upon which I do not compromise.”
“We drank, we laughed, we descended further into the damp earth. Fortunato thought himself on a quest for Amontillado. I knew better.”

Invite students to take their learning further by taking on a new role as a forensic psychologist. Explain to students that they will think like a forensic psychologist and determine the motivations of Montresor in the story to evaluate if he is competent to stand trial.

First, to help students understand what a forensic psychologist is and what they do, display slide 13 and play the following video:

What is a Forensic Psychologist?

Move to slide 14 and place students into pairs. Pass out the attached Evidence Collection handout to each pair. Ask student pairs to create 2–3 questions they want to ask Montresor and write them down in the space provided on their handout. Tell students to keep in mind that their goal is to gain enough knowledge to determine if Montresor is capable of standing trial.

While student pairs work together to create their questions, make sure the chat bot is set up and prompted. Display the conversation with the bot on the board or screen so that students can view the answers as questions are asked.

Once students have created their questions, go through each pair and allow them to ask their question. Feed the chat bot each question and allow students time to take notes about Montresor’s response.

Online

Extend

Go to slide 12. Invite students to take their learning further by taking on a new role: that of a forensic psychologist. Ask students to think like a forensic psychologist and determine the motivations of Montresor in the story to evaluate if he is competent to stand trial. First, to help students understand what a forensic psychologist is and what they do, show the video on the slide ("What is a Forensic Psychologist?").

Go to slide 13. Ask students to play the role of forensic psychologists. Students must imagine the following scenario: they are asked by the court to interview the defendant, Montresor, before his trial to determine if he is mentally capable of standing trial.

For the Hot Seat activity, ask for one person play Montresor to answer questions. Montresor will answer based only on text evidence. Before beginning the questioning phase, have the rest of the group should create questions to ask Montresor about the crime he committed and why and then ask the questions.

Once you have given students time to come up with questions, begin the activity. Depending on how you choose to arrange the activity, your role may be different. For instance, if you choose to put students in small groups and take turns role-playing Montresor, then your role is to monitor groups around the classroom. If you choose to play Montresor, then your role is to provide students evidence through examples in the text with your responses and to ensure overall class participation.

Hybrid

Extend

Go to slide 12. Invite students to take their learning further by taking on a new role: that of a forensic psychologist. Ask students to think like a forensic psychologist and determine the motivations of Montresor in the story to evaluate if he is competent to stand trial. First, to help students understand what a forensic psychologist is and what they do, show the video on the slide ("What is a Forensic Psychologist?").

Go to slide 13. Ask students to play the role of forensic psychologists. Students must imagine the following scenario: they are asked by the court to interview the defendant, Montresor, before his trial to determine if he is mentally capable of standing trial.

For the Hot Seat activity, ask for one person play Montresor to answer questions. Montresor will answer based only on text evidence. Before beginning the questioning phase, have the rest of the group should create questions to ask Montresor about the crime he committed and why and then ask the questions.

Once you have given students time to come up with questions, begin the activity. Depending on how you choose to arrange the activity, your role may be different. For instance, if you choose to put students in small groups and take turns role-playing Montresor, then your role is to monitor groups around the classroom. If you choose to play Montresor, then your role is to provide students evidence through examples in the text with your responses and to ensure overall class participation.

Hybrid

Evaluate

Go to slide 14. After students have interviewed Montresor, ask them to testify as expert witnesses, determining whether Montresor is capable of standing trial. To prepare for this, have students build their own clinical evaluations as detailed on the slide. Pass out a copy of the attached Clinical Evaluation Rubric. Introduce students to Flip (find a tutorial here: Flip Teacher Guide). Invite each student to create a Flip video to explain their own clinical evaluation of Montresor.

Students’ evaluations should try to answer the following questions:
Does Montresor understand the crime for which he is accused of committing?
What is his current mental functioning?
What is his version of the alleged offense?
What is your impression regarding Montresor's capacity to understand his actions and his conduct?

Students can use the Clinical Evaluation Rubric to evaluate their videos before submitting them.

Online

Evaluate

Go to slide 14. After students have interviewed Montresor, ask them to testify as expert witnesses, determining whether Montresor is capable of standing trial. To prepare for this, have students build their own clinical evaluations as detailed on the slide. Pass out a copy of the attached Clinical Evaluation Rubric. Introduce students to Padlet. Invite each student to create a Padlet video to explain their own clinical evaluation of Montresor.

Students’ evaluations should try to answer the following questions:
Does Montresor understand the crime for which he is accused of committing?
What is his current mental functioning?
What is his version of the alleged offense?
What is your impression regarding Montresor's capacity to understand his actions and his conduct?

Students can use the Clinical Evaluation Rubric to evaluate their videos before submitting them.

Face-to-Face

Evaluate

20 Minute(s)

Display slide 14 and review the Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) instructional strategy with students. Pass out the attached CER Organizer handout to each student and explain that they will be making a claim about Montresor’s capability to testify. They will use text evidence and evidence based on the interview with Montresor to support their claim and then provide a rationale and connection of their thoughts.

Review the CER Organizer handout with students and then allow them time to complete it.

Resources

K20 Center. (n.d.). Categorical highlighting. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/192
K20 Center. (n.d.). Claim, evidence, reasoning (CER). Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/156
K20 Center. (n.d.). Critique the bot. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/3491
K20 Center. (n.d.). Elbow partners. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/116
K20 Center. (n.d.). Gallery walk/carousel. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/118
Oklahoma State Department of Education. (2019). 9-3-R-4. http://elaokframework.pbworks.com/w/page/120909798/9-3-R-4
Poe, E.A. (1846). The Cask of Amontillado. CommonLit. https://www.commonlit.org/texts/the-cask-of-amontillado
Portland Community College (2014, March 27). What is a forensic psychologist? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3-p1QnHrVk
SoulPancake. (2015, March 5). What’s stopping you from achieving your goals? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZRw91uNMq0

Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning

Criminal Motivations

Irony and Characterization in "The Cask of Amontillado"

Summary

Essential Question(s)

Snapshot

Materials

Materials

Materials

Engage

Engage

Engage

Explore

Explore

Explore

Explain

Explain

Explain

Extend

Extend

Extend

Evaluate

Evaluate

Evaluate

Resources

Publisher

Downloads

Standards

Facilitator Resources

Learner Handouts