Using Resources and Reference Materials for Editing — Unit test
Question 25 • Common Core ELA 11 - ELA3011 IC
Ah, dear father, graybeard, lonely old courage-teacher, what America did you have when Charon quit poling his ferry and you got out on a smoking bank and stood watching the boat disappear on the black waters of Lethe?
Answer
h
hopefulness that modern-day America can turn back the hands of time.
d
doom and gloom caused by the pressure of conforming with the middle-class American society.
s
sadness since the speaker will never experience the same America as in Whitman’s day.
p
pride and appreciation for his fellow poet’s role in American literary history.
Explanation
The speaker addresses Walt Whitman as a beloved older poet and asks what America he saw as he crossed into death. The image of the boat disappearing on the dark waters suggests that Whitman’s America belongs to the past, and the speaker feels separated from it. This expresses sadness that he will never experience the same America Whitman knew, rather than hope that the past can be restored.
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