Question

Read this stanza from "The Raven."

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping something louder than before.
"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see, then, what thereat is and this mystery explore–
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;–
'Tis the wind and nothing more."

This stanza contributes to the suspense of the poem because

a) the reader knows what is making the noise while the speaker does not.
b) the speaker and the reader wait again to find out what is making the noise.
c) the tapping gets louder, which foreshadows that the noise is made by a bird.
d) the wind gets stronger and makes more noise against the speaker’s window.

Answer 1

b) The speaker and the reader wait again to find out what is making the noise.

Step-by-step explanation:

The poem "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe is a dramatic monologue of the speaker who was interrupted at night by a knocking sound. Told from a scholarly young man's perspective, the poem addresses his change in mood as the poem progresses.

The given excerpt in the question is from the sixth stanza of the poem when the knocking came for the second time. But when he opens the door, it was nothing, no one at the door. The stanza contributes to the suspense of the poem for both the speaker and the readers aren't sure of who is behind the knocking. And both have to wait to find out the source of the noise.

Answer 2

This stanza contributes to the suspense of the poem because b) the speaker and the reader wait again to find out what is making the noise. "The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. Poe wrote the poem as a narrative, without intentional allegory or didacticism.