Read this stanza from “The Raven.”

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,

“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;

But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,

And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,

That I scarce was sure I heard you”–here I opened wide the door–Darkness there and nothing more.

Question: How does Edgar Allan Poe create suspense in this stanza?

Options:

• A) The darkness in the hallway foreshadows the dark bird’s entrance in the room.
• B) The pacing is slowed down as the action of opening the door is delayed.
• C) The source of the noise is not yet revealed, as no one is standing at the door.
• D) The speaker believes that he has a visitor to his room, which turns out to be true.

Answer: The correct answer is option: C) The source of the noise is not yet revealed, as no one is standing at the door.

Explanation: Edgar Allan Poe narrates a very suspenseful moment where the nervous main character walks up to the chamber door, slowly turns the knob, and finds nothing. The room seems to have a creepy atmosphere, especially after the tapping at his chamber door.

The setting describes a mysterious tree and strange noises. These descriptions reveal an atmosphere of anxiety and fear, which are characteristics of gothic literature.

Answer:

1. In truth, I found myself incorrigible with respect to Order; and now I am grown old, and my memory bad, I feel very sensibly the want of it.
2. But, on the whole, tho’ I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it; as those who aim at perfect writing by imitating the engraved copies, tho’ they never reach the wish’d-for excellence of those copies, their hand is mended by the endeavor, and is tolerable while it continues fair and legible.

Explanation:

1. In this sentence , Franklin admits he is obessed with order. He sees this by himself; he is not referring to what other people may think of him. He also talks about his weaknesses: he has become old and his memory is failing him.
2. In this second sentence, the speaker talks about his own opinion about the efforts he himself has made. He has always wanted to achieve perfection but the only way he has found to attain it was by his own endeless trials. He has never given in; he will never abandon his efforts. Here, he compares himself with  writers. Both , the writers and he himself may not attain excellence , but they will go on working.

The correct option is A.

In the excerpt given above, the infinitive phrase ‘to be secured’ modifies the right of the people. In English language, a word or phrase is said to modify another word if that word or phrase offers more explanation and clarification about the word that is been talked about. In the passage given above, the modifier [to be secure] offers more explanation about the rights of the people that are been discussed in the passage.

If Mr. Utterson is known as the last reputable acquaintance of down going men, then he does not shy away from people of questionable character. Of the options given, the only one that is a “good” quality regarding Mr. Utterson is option D: “approved tolerance for others”, this meaning that he has tolerance for other people, therefore allowing him to be an acquaintance of down going men.

Option A is incorrect because it says that he does not express his feelings which would not enforce the claim that he mingles with people, Options B and C are the same, since they are negative qualities that make Mr. Utterson seem like a hermit.