Analyzing Author's Choices with Irving

 How does the author's choice of vocabulary, particularly in describing the painting, contribute to the story's mood?

•  It creates a scientific, analytical mood.

• It establishes a romantic, idealized mood.

• It builds an ominous, unsettling mood.

• It generates a humorous, lighthearted mood.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

The narrator's attempt to "brush away this allusion" suggests:

• The painting is physically dirty.

• The effect is psychological rather than physical.

• The narrator is allergic to the painting.

• The painting is an optical illusion.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

How does the author's choice to gradually reveal information about the painting affect the pacing and tension of the narrative?

• It diminishes the impact of the painting's reveal.

• It confuses the reader with too many details.

• It creates a sense of frustration and disappointment.

• It builds suspense by keeping the reader waiting for the full reveal.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

What is the intended effect of comparing the painting to the hypnotic stare of a poisonous reptile (basilisk)?

• to imply that the painting is of a large snake

• to demonstrate that the, though disturbed, the narrator cannot look away

• to make the reader shudder with aversion to reptiles

• to show how the narrator is simply seeing what he wants to see

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

CCSS.RI.9-10.5

Analyze the author's use of sensory details in description. How do these details work together to create a specific mood?

• They build an atmosphere of unease and foreboding.

• They create a sense of nostalgia and comfort.

• They establish a clinical, detached tone.

• They evoke a dreamlike, surreal quality.

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4