Question

read the first stanza of the poem \the raven\ by edgar allan poe. once upon a midnight dreary, while i pondered, weak and weary, over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore— while i nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, as of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. \tis some visitor,\ i muttered, \tapping at my chamber door— only this and nothing more.\ which line from the stanza best supports the idea that the speaker wasnt expecting anyone to come by? \only this and nothing more.\ \over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—\ \while i nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,\ \tis some visitor, i muttered, tapping at my chamber door—

Explanation:

To determine which line shows the speaker wasn't expecting anyone, we analyze each option:

• "Only this and nothing more." just reaffirms a thought, not about expectations.
• "Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—" describes what the speaker was doing, not expectations.
• "While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping." The word "suddenly" implies the tapping was unexpected, as the speaker was dozing and not anticipating a visitor.
• "'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, 'tapping at my chamber door—'" shows the speaker's reaction after the tapping, not that they didn't expect someone.

Answer:

"While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping."