Question

Read the excerpt from a short story.
The downy pillow covered his ears but did not mask the sound. Sleep eluded him for hours, and he heard it still: a persistent scraping in the corner of his room. Sitting upright at last, he peered into the darkness. It was as he’d suspected. His uncle’s trunk, an old army footlocker, was the source of the sound. Fine then, he could resolve this mystery. He swung his legs to the floor with conviction.
How does the excerpt exemplify the ideas King describes in "Danse Macabre"?
It allows readers to approach a “forbidden door.”
It provides a “single powerful spectacle” for the imagination’s eye.
It forces readers to “grapple” with their own mortality.
It introduces an unlikely “dancing partner.”


Read the excerpt from "The Adventure of the Mysterious Picture."
All this was half muttered to myself, as I hastily slipped on my clothes; which having done, I groped my way out of the room, and down-stairs to the drawing-room. Here, after tumbling over two or three pieces of furniture, I made out to reach a sofa, and stretching myself upon it determined to bivouac there for the night.
What technique does Irving use to build suspense in the excerpt?
The pace of the story quickens.
The word choice darkens the tone.
The outcome of events becomes uncertain.
The setting details are intentionally omitted.


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?
The pace of the story quickens.
The word choice darkens the tone.
Odd characters are introduced.
The setting details are intentionally omitted.

Answer 1

1) It allows readers to approach a “forbidden door.”
- The passage teases a mysterious, potentially taboo discovery (the trunk’s scraping) and invites the reader’s curiosity to peer along with the narrator, matching King’s idea of inviting readers to step toward the forbidden.

2) The pace of the story quickens.
- The hurried actions (“hastily slipped,” “groped,” “tumbling over”) create a faster rhythm that raises tension and suspense.

3) The word choice darkens the tone.
- Strong, gruesome diction (“agony,” “menace,” “blood,” “ghastliness,” “horror”) intensifies the ominous mood and heightens suspense.