Read the excerpt from "The Tell-Tale Heart.”TRUE!—nervous—very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses—not destroyed—not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily—how calmly I can tell you the whole story.Read the excerpt from "The Black Cat.”For the most wild, yet most homely narrative which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief. Mad indeed would I be to expect it, in a case where my very senses reject their own evidence. Yet, mad am I not—and very surely do I not dream. But to-morrow I die, and to-day I would unburthen my soul.
Answer
A
Both narrators appear to be completely rational, which makes them both reliable narrators.
B
Both narrators admit to suffering from madness, which makes them both unreliable narrators.
C
Both narrators admit to having enhanced senses, which makes them both reliable narrators.
D
Both narrators appear to be irrational, which makes them both unreliable narrators.
Explanation
Both narrators insist they are not mad, but their words raise doubts about their judgment. The narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart” claims to hear things in heaven, on earth, and in hell, while the narrator of “The Black Cat” says his senses reject their own evidence. These claims make both narrators seem irrational and unreliable, so choice D is correct.
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