In "the pit and the pendulum," the narrator explains, "i put forward my arm, and shuddered to find that i had fallen at the very brink of a circular ” how does this description of the narrator's predicament affect the story? it adds suspense by introducing real, narrowly avoided danger into the narrator's situation. it forces readers to question the reliability of the narrator's account of events. it changes the narrator, in the minds of readers, from an unsympathetic figure into a sympathetic one. it injects dark humor to the story by indicating that the narrator was saved by his own clumsiness

Read the excerpt from “the railroad earth.” o well anyway i'll be learning eventually to like the railroad and sherman will like me some day, and anyway another day another dollar. the narrator of this excerpt can best be described as friendly.optimistic.wealthy.intelligent.

Read the excerpt from elie wiesel’s all rivers run to the sea. why were those trains allowed to roll unhindered into poland? why were the tracks leading to birkenau never bombed? i have put these questions to american presidents and generals and to high-ranking soviet officers. since moscow and washington knew what the killers were doing in the death camps, why was nothing done at least to slow down their “production”? that not a single allied military aircraft ever tried to destroy the rail lines converging on auschwitz remains an outrageous enigma to me. birkenau was “processing” ten thousand jews a day. stopping a single convoy for a single night—or even for just a few hours—would have prolonged so many lives. based on the paragraph, the author would most likely agree that it is best to avoid confrontation at all costs. people need to be proactive when they witness an injustice. countries should remain neutral to keep alliances strong. moscow and washington are to be blamed for the holocaust.

“simile” by n. scott momaday what did we say to each other that now we are as the deer who walk in single file with heads high with ears forward with eyes watchful with hooves always placed on firm ground in whose limbs there is latent flight source: momaday, n. scott. “simile.” the language of literature. new york: mcdougal littell, 2006. 265. print. which of the following techniques does this poem use? i. simile ii. sensory imagery iii. allusion i and ii i and iii ii and iii i only