Read the excerpt from "The Tell-Tale Heart.” The ringing became more distinct:—It continued and became more distinct: I talked more freely to get rid of the feeling: but it continued and gained definiteness—until, at length, I found that the noise was not within my ears.

No doubt I now grew very pale;—but I talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased—and what could I do? It was a low, dull, quick sound—much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I gasped for breath—and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly—more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased.

Read the excerpt from "The Black Cat.”

But may God shield and deliver me from the fangs of the Arch-Fiend! No sooner had the reverberation of my blows sunk into silence, than I was answered by a voice from within the tomb!—by a cry, at first muffled and broken, like the sobbing of a child, and then quickly swelling into one long, loud, and continuous scream, utterly anomalous and inhuman—a howl—a wailing shriek, half of horror and half of triumph, such as might have arisen only out of hell, conjointly from the throats of the dammed in their agony and of the demons that exult in the

Of my own thoughts it is folly to speak. Swooning, I staggered to the opposite wall. For one instant the party upon the stairs remained motionless, through extremity of terror and of awe. In the next, a dozen stout arms were toiling at the wall.

Which statement best contrasts these two excerpts?

A.) The sound of the beating heart emphasizes the madness of the narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart,” while the sound of the crying cat in “The Black Cat” does not.

B.) The sound of the beating heart in “The Tell-Tale Heart” is an explained event, while the sound of the crying cat in “The Black Cat” is an unexplained event.

C.) The sound of the beating heart in “The Tell-Tale Heart” decreases the tension of the narrative, while the sound of the crying cat in “The Black Cat” increases the tension.

D.) The sound of the beating heart in “The Tell-Tale Heart” provides a happy ending, while the sound of the crying cat in “The Black Cat” provides an unhappy ending.