Read the excerpt from "Shout: A Poetry Memoir.” On our bellies, facing the beach, hands in the mud legs in the water, my feet motorboated obediently. I didn’t mind kicking long as I could hold on to the shore. But then the Lady beckoned us into deep water one by one. I refused, even with the rest of the class staring. The Lady hooked me under the armpits and pulled me in. Which word best describes the mood of this excerpt?
The speaker refuses to enter deep water and holds on to the shore, showing strong fear of being pulled away from safety. The Lady then pulls the speaker into the water despite the refusal, making “terrified” the best description of the mood. The passage is tense and frightening rather than humorous or depressed.
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