Question

A furnished flat at $8 per week. It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad. In the vestibule below was a letter-box into which no letter would go, and an electric button from which no mortal finger could coax a ring.
In the passage above, the author’s word choice creates a mood of _____.

mystery

romance

barrenness

hopefulness

Answer 1

Since almost everything in the paragraph describes things that "cannot" be done or are lacking, the best descriptor of this word choice would be "barrenness." The house is empty, nothing can go into the letterbox, the doorbell won't ring. None of these things give the appearance that they could take place easily.