Read the excerpt from Midsummer by Derek Walcott.With the stampeding hiss and scurry of green lemmings, midsummer’s leaves race to extinction like the roarof a Brixton riot tunneled by water hoses;

The comparison uses forceful, chaotic images—“stampeding,” “hiss,” and the roar of a riot—to describe the leaves racing away. This makes the poem’s subject feel intense and emotionally charged, rather than simply describing Brixton’s buildings or promising to discuss several riots. The best answer is C, “illustrates the strong feelings associated with the poem’s subject matter.”

AI-written and checked against the verified answer.