Question

Read the excerpt from "The Adventure of the Mysterious Picture." The expression was that of agony—the agony of intense bodily pain; but a menace scowled upon the brow, and a few sprinklings of blood added to its ghastliness. Yet it was not all these characteristics—it was some horror of the mind, some inscrutable antipathy awakened by this picture, which harrowed up my feelings. What technique does Irving use to build suspense in the excerpt?
Answer Options:
The pace of the story quickens.
The word choice darkens the tone.
Odd characters are introduced.
The setting details are intentionally omitted.

Answer 1

The correct option is THE WORD CHOICE DARKENS THE TONE.
From the passage it can be seen that the author took care to use words that will arouse and sustain the suspense of the readers. The word choice in the excerpt gives the passage a dark tone that will raise the curiosity of the reader about the eventual outcome of the event stated in the passage.

Answer 2

The correct option is $\boxed{\text{The word choice darkens the tone}}$.

Further Explanation:

The story "The Adventure of the Mysterious Picture" is about a picture hung in the room of the narrator. The picture brings a lot of suspense and encourages the feeling of mystery in the story. The picture hung in the narrator's room made him uncomfortable to stand in front of it. The narrator does not want to look so deep into the painting but he even is unable to let his eyes away from it. He possesses a continuous fear in his mind even when he would not facing the painting. He had built a consciousness in his mind about the painting. For him, the picture seems very real and at the same time, it keeps distressing him. His psychological state is disturbed as he fears the peeping of some unusual thing from the painting. He wants to hide in his bed so that he can be rescued from such a situation. The choice of the words by the author builds a Gothic presence in the story. It changes the mood of the story into a darker one. The tone highlights the intensity of the psychological state of the narrator. It brings a dark and Gothic effect in the story.

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Answer details:

Grade: High School

Subject: English Literature

Chapter: "The Adventure of the Mysterious Picture" by Washington Irving

Keywords: The Adventure of the Mysterious Picture, Washington Irving, Gothic, psychological state, tone.