Which sentence or sentences best indicate the beginning of the rising action?
a. "whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees – very gradually – i made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever."
b. "now this is the point. you fancy me mad. madmen know nothing. but you should have seen me."
c. "it took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that i could see him as he lay upon his bed. "
d. "and this i did for seven long nights – every night just at midnight – but i found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his evil eye."

A). "Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees - very gradually - I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and rid myself of the eye forever."

Explanation:

Rising action refers to the decision or events that lead to the climax of the story. It displays the flaws in the characters and the situational circumstances that lead to the turning point in the plot. Rising actions add to the interest of the readers by creating suspense and tension.

Thus, the option that best compliments the above description would be the option A as it indicates the hostile and impulsive actions(flaw where he says ran my blood cold) that may lead to catastrophic consequences(climax) as the speaker(could be protagonist) has made up his mind to kill the Old man and the phrase "rid of the eye forever" reflects his anguish and wrath. Thus, option A is the answer.

Entice means attract or tempt by offering pleasure or advantage. a  

SYNONYM for the word entice would be lure which means to temp or temptation.