The Poetry of Physics

Question 9 • *CR English 3 S2 [E3060OX]

Which statement best explains how Neil deGrasse Tyson’s “Death by Black Hole” and Billy Collins’s “Man Listening to Disc” present differing views about the universe?

Answer

Collins ponders the idea that a person can overcome all obstacles as long as there is music spilling from a headset, while Tyson establishes the idea that human beings are at the mercy of a violent universe.

Since Tyson is a scientist, he poses the idea that the universe can be understood through science, while Collins, a poet, argues that art or music holds the key to understanding the world.

Collins’s poem puts forth the idea that humans can become the center of the universe, while Tyson reveals that humans are insignificantly small and weak in comparison to a black hole.

Tyson’s essay reveals that humanity is powerless when it comes to the larger forces of the universe, while Collins’s poem argues that humanity is the center of the universe, and thus its master.

Explanation

Tyson’s essay describes the immense power of a black hole, emphasizing how small and vulnerable humans are in the face of cosmic forces. Collins’s poem, by contrast, imagines the music listener as the center of a vast, personal universe. Choice C captures this contrast: the poem elevates the human perspective, while the essay stresses human insignificance compared with a black hole.

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