Question

Reread paragraph 23 below:

Having deposited our mournful burden upon tressels within this region of horror, we partially turned
aside the yet unscrewed lid of the coffin, and looked upon the face of the tenant. A striking
similitude between the brother and sister now first arrested my attention; and Usher, divining,
perhaps, my thoughts, murmured out some few words from which I learned that the deceased and
himself had been twins, and that sympathies of a scarcely intelligible nature had always existed
between them. Our glances, however, rested not long upon the dead for we could not regard her
unawed. The disease which had thus entombed the lady in the maturity of youth, had left, as usual in
all maladies of a strictly cataleptical character, the mockery of a faint blush upon the bosom and the
face, and that suspiciously lingering smile upon the lip which is so terrible in death. We replaced and
screwed down the lid, and, having secured the door of iron, made our way, with toil, into the scarcely
less gloomy apartments of the upper portion of the house.
What does the term "similitude" most likely mean as used in the passage?
O supernatural connection
O physical resemblance
O closeness of relationship
Oshocking discovery

Answer 1

The term "similitude" in the passage refers to physical resemblance between the deceased and the narrator's acquaintance.

Step-by-step explanation:

The term "similitude" in the passage most likely means physical resemblance. The narrator describes a striking resemblance between the deceased and their twin, suggesting that they looked very similar. This suggests that "similitude" refers to a similarity or likeness in appearance.

The use of the term also implies that the physical resemblance between the brother and sister is significant and noteworthy. The narrator's attention is arrested by this resemblance and it is stated that there had always been "sympathies of a scarcely intelligible nature" between them, further emphasizing the strength of their physical resemblance.

Overall, in the context of the passage, "similitude" primarily refers to the physical resemblance between the deceased and the narrator's acquaintance.

Learn more about the meaning of the term similitude in the passage