Read the following paragraph and answer the question. 1 Poe really was the inventor of the detective story, which he called the "ratiocinative" tale. 2 Here believing the effect intended was "to perplex the reader and whet his desire for elucidation," he originated two devices useful to this day. 3 One might be called "the device of the baffled friend": He gave his brilliant detective a companion not good at solutions and had him tell the story. 4 Viewing the happenings through this narrator's eyes, the reader shares his growing puzzlement. 5 Poe used his second device at the tale's end: He had the detective disclose his surprising solution and then "elucidate" step by step the reasoning which led to it. 6 "The Purloined Letter" demonstrated Poe's use of these two devices in a detective story.

(From: United States in Literature by Walter Blair, Paul Farmer, Theodore Hornberger, and Margaret Wasson. C. 1963 by Scott, Foresman and Company. Reprinted by permission.)

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