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Read the excerpt from Poe’s "The Fall of the House of Usher." I dared not -- oh, pity me, miserable wretch that I am! -- I dared not -- I dared not speak! We have put her living in the tomb! Said I not that my senses were acute? I now tell you that I heard her first feeble movements in the hollow coffin. I heard them -- many, many days ago -- yet I dare not -- I dared not speak! What is the effect of parallelism in this excerpt?

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2 votes

Answer: b

Step-by-step explanation:

User Ddlab
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In this excerpt, parallelism emphasizes Usher's sense of terror. His repetitions of "I dared not" show his deeply distressed state of mind, whereas the parallel use of simple perfect tense in an interrogative sentence ("said I not") adds to the completely disoriented senses, as Usher can't tell the truth from the troublesome fiction of his own mind.
User Stephen Hendry
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