Question 4 • DRHS American Literature and Composition
Read the excerpt from Black Boy.From far beyond the horizons that bound this bleak plantation there had come to me through my living the knowledge that my father was a black peasant who had gone to the city seeking life, but who had failed in the city; a black peasant whose life had been hopelessly snarled in the city, and who had at last fled the city—that same city which had lifted me in its burning arms and borne me toward alien and undreamed-of shores of knowing.Which best describes Wright’s realization in this excerpt?
Answer
A
Wright acknowledges that the city that destroyed his father’s dreams was the same city that fulfilled his own.
B
Wright acknowledges that his father was destined to fail in the city, just as generations failed after him.
C
Wright acknowledges that his father had the same opportunities in the city he did.
D
Wright acknowledges that his success was based solely on the lessons he learned from his father’s failure.
Explanation
Wright contrasts his father, who went to the city seeking a better life but failed and fled, with himself, whom that same city carried toward new knowledge and possibilities. This contrast shows that the city thwarted his father’s hopes but opened a path for Wright. Choice A captures that realization; the excerpt does not say his father was destined to fail or that Wright’s success came solely from his father’s experience.
AI-written and checked against the verified answer.