ACT Reading 2.1 Prose Fiction

ACT Reading 2.1 Prose Fiction. Which of the following best describes the mood of this passage?

ACT Reading	Author's Voice and Method Prose Fiction
Foreign Language	Arabic Subtitled Chinese Subtitled Korean Subtitled Spanish Subtitled
Language	English Language
Literary Fiction	Narration and Tone
Product Type	ACT Reading
Reading	Main Idea
Reading Literature	Analyze how author’s choices in structure create mystery, suspense, or surprise

00:55

Really bad.

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So one thing we're sure of right from the get-go is that any word with a positive connotation

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is wrong. This makes "amusing" the easiest choice

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to eliminate. Hint: hardly any of Poe's stories are what

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we'd call amusing. Unless you have a seriously twisted sense of humor.

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(B) is a definite no. "Melancholy" is a feeling of pensive sadness,

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sometimes caused by... nothing at all.

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Plenty of Poe's other characters are about as melancholy as it gets, but this protagonist

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is out for revenge. He's got no time for moping around.

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Choice (C) is incorrect.

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Poe basically invented the horror genre, making "frightening" very tempting. There's

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definitely a slightly scary tone to this specific passage as well, so we won't cross this

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one off just yet. "Ominous" describes the sense that something

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bad is about to happen.

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Think of the moment before you tossed your clock radio into the bath.

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"Ominous" better describes the feeling of tension in the passage than "frightening."

01:55

The frightening part comes later...

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Especially when you're hanging out with Poe.

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So the answer is (A) Ominous.