Question

• Directions: As explained earlier in this chapter, an inference is something a reader learns from a text through information that was never directly given, stated, or
explained by the author. Review the information about inferences and the story if necessary, and then answer the question below.
1. Remember that an inference is information given in a story that is not directly stated by the author, but it is still very important in order to understand a story, Place
a checkmark next to each inference the reader needed to make in order to understand "The Cask of Amontillado".
Montresor and Fortunato are wearing costumes because it is
carnival time.
One reason Montresor is wearing a costume is to be sure no
one recognizes him when he is walking back to his house with
Fortunato
Fortunato was a competitive person because he got jealous
when he thought Luchesi was going to taste the Amontillado.
Montresor leads Fortunato down into the catacombs where
many people were buried.
Montresor and Fortunato were down in the catacombs until
midnight
Montresor was upset because Fortunato had seriously offended
him and wanted revenge.
No one ever found Fortunato, who Montresor buried alive down
in the catacombs.
Montresor kept giving Fortunato wine because he knew he
could not resist it and wanted Fortunato to keep following him
O O O O
Review

Answer 1

Answer:

Since we are to choose only what in inferred in the story, the correct option is number 2. One reason Montresor is wearing a costume is to be sure no  one recognizes him when he is walking back to his house with  Fortunato.

Explanation:

"The Cask of Amontillado" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. The narrator is Montresor, a man who wants revenge against Fortunato. It is clearly stated at the beginning of the story that Fortunato has offended Montresor:

THE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.

Therefore, number 6 is eliminated. Since it is carnival, Fortunato is wearing a costume:

He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells.

We can eliminate number 1 with that information. However, it is not stated anywhere that Montresor was wearing a costume with the purpose of disguising himself. So, we should check number 2 as an inference.

Montresor leads Fortunato to the catacombs and gives him wine to keep him drunk:

We came at length to the foot of the descent, and stood together upon the damp ground of the catacombs of the Montresors. [...]

Here I knocked off the neck of a bottle which I drew from a long row of its fellows that lay upon the mould.

"Drink," I said, presenting him the wine.

We can, thus, eliminate numbers 4 and 8. We can also eliminate number 5, since the narrator clearly states the time:

It was now midnight, and my task was drawing to a close.

Finally, we can eliminate number 3 as well. Fortunato went to the catacombs with Montresor because he was a proud man when it came to knowing wines. He was jealous of the possibility that Luchresi would be the one tasting the Amontillado:

He had a weak point -- this Fortunato -- although in other regards he was a man to be respected and even feared. He prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine.

"Let us go, nevertheless. The cold is merely nothing. Amontillado! You have been imposed upon. And as for Luchresi, he cannot distinguish Sherry from Amontillado."