1. The Fall of the House of Usher

2.  The House of Usher is a run-down, gloomy, scary place.  The speaker has come to the House of Usher to stay with his friend Roderick, who has come down with a physical/mental illness. Roderick wrote him a letter and asked him to come stay.

3.  Roderick Usher has the paleness of a corpse, his eyes are watery, his lips are thin and pale. He looks really sick.  Roderick Usher called his illness a “family evil.”  He could not stand light. He could only eat bland food. He could only wear clothes of a certain texture. There could be no flowers. It was a “morbid acuteness of the senses.”

4.  Roderick’s sister, Madeline, is also ill, though more so than Roderick. They are the last of the Usher family.  Roderick is acting more ill—and more crazy.

5.  Madeline dies and Roderick has her entombed in the walls of the house so that the doctors will not dissect her body to study her illness.  After his sister dies, Roderick gets worse.  The speaker begins to think he might be getting sick.

6.  During a storm, Roderick shows the speaker that the house is surrounded by a glowing vapor.  Roderick and the speaker buried Madeline alive and Roderick knew all along because of his “acute senses.”  The House crumbles after the speaker gets out, leaving Madeline and Roderick inside.