Why does the narrator call himself but not “mad” in paragraph 1? What does this tell us about him? What does he reveal is going to happen to him tomorrow? In the last sentence in paragraph one, he tells us this story is just natural causes and effects? What does this mean?

The story in question is The Black Cat by  Edgar Allan Poe.

1. The narrator states that he is not mad because the events he is about to narrate are very much out of the ordinary. Mad here refers to the state of not being in full control of ones perceptions, insane or mentally ill.          

2.  The narrators statement tells us that he really wants people to believe what he is about to say and is worried people may dissmiss his story as unreal.

3. He reveals that he is going to kick the bucket on the morrow.

4. He means that other people upon consideration of his story will not take appreciation of the nuances and the feelings of dread that it evokes within him. But that some person may process the entire ordeal in purely logic.

Cheers!

in the quotation from passage, connie willis states that literature is a way for authors from the past to communicate with readers of today. we can read their stories, books, and other texts to learn lessons about life. willis refers to these lessons as messages “from beyond the grave.” willis has a favorable viewpoint about the timelessness of literature.