Excerpt adapted from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
During a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing
alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country, where no sign of human activity presented itself. And at length. I found myself
as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. With the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable
gloom pervaded my spirit. I looked upon the scene before me-upon the house, and the simple landscape features of the domain, upon the bleak
walls, upon the vacant eye-like windows, and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees-with an utter depression of soul. There was an iciness, a
sinking, a sickening of the heart. What was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of the House of Usher? I could not grapple with the
shadowy fancies that crowded upon me as I pondered it. I was forced to fall back upon the unsatisfactory conclusion, that while there are
combinations of very simple natural objects which have the power of thus affecting us, still the analysis of this power lies among considerations
beyond our depth. It was possible, I reflected that a mere different arrangement of the particulars of the scene would be sufficient to modify its
capacity for sorrowful impression. And, acting upon this idea, I reined my horse to the steep brink of a black and grim-looking lake that lay by the
dwelling. I gazed down upon the ghastly tree-stems, and the vacant and eye-like windows.
In this mansion of gloom I now proposed to myself a stay of some weeks. Its proprietor, Roderick Usher, had been one of my closest friends in
boyhood. But many years had passed since our last meeting. A letter, however, had lately reached me in a distant part of the country. A letter
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Select the correct answer.
What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?
ОА
OB
to describe a significant event and its likely consequences
to set the scene and provide some background information
to explain a complex problem and propose an easy solution
to generate excitement and stimulate the imagination
OC.
OD