Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of this story.

Read this excerpt from “The Pit and the Pendulum” by Edgar Allan Poe.

There was a discordant hum of human voices! There was a loud blast as of many trumpets! There was a harsh grating as of a thousand thunders! The fiery walls rushed back! An outstretched arm caught my own as I fell, fainting, into the abyss.

How does the pacing of this passage most affect the story?


A. It creates the panicked and terrified atmosphere of the narrator's final moments alive.

B. It highlights the narrator's disturbed thoughts and weakened state.

C. It highlights the narrator's defiance and anger as he meets his awful fate.

D. It creates the frantic and frenzied atmosphere of the narrator's climactic rescue.