Answer:
The feature of gothic literature that this excerpt includes is:
A. an exploration of rational and irrational behavior
Explanation:
"Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, an American author who is seen till this day as a master of gothic literature. In this particular excerpt, the characteristic of gothic literature that can be perceived is the exploration of rational and irrational behavior. The narrator is trying to convince readers that he is a sane, rational man. To do so, he explains how he disposed of the body of a man he killed. What he is using as proof of his sanity is precisely what disproves it, which shows how irrational he is. He did not kill this man to protect himself or someone else, but for psychotic reasons. For instance, he believed he could hear the man's heart beating.
