Read the excerpt from "Pilgrimage.” Here, the Mississippi carved its mud-dark path, a graveyard For skeletons of sunken riverboat. Here, the river changed its course, Turning away from the city as one turns, forgetting, from the past— The abandoned bluffs, land sloping up above the river’s bend—where now The Yazoo fills the Mississippi’s empty bed. Which universal theme is shown in the excerpt?
Answer
A
the value of learning
B
the wisdom gained from experience
C
the impact of the past on the present
D
the sufferings of war
Explanation
The excerpt describes how the river’s earlier course and the abandoned bluffs remain part of the landscape today. The phrase “forgetting, from the past” connects the river’s past to its present, and the Yazoo now fills the Mississippi’s former bed. This shows the impact of the past on the present, not learning, experience, or war.
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