Visions of the Past and Future: Structure in "I Hear America Singing"
Question 3 • *CR Expository Reading and Writing S1 [E4250OX]
Read the excerpt from “ Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.”Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt,Just as any of you is one of a living crowd, I was one of a crowd,Just as you are refresh'd by the gladness of the river and the bright flow, I was refresh'd,Just as you stand and lean on the rail, yet hurry with the swift current, I stood yet was hurried,Just as you look on the numberless masts of ships and the thick-stemm'd pipes of steamboats, I look'd.
Answer
A
to highlight that the narrator feels misunderstood by others
B
to emphasize that the narrator’s experience is universal
C
to highlight that the reader and narrator are from different times
D
to emphasize that only the reader can relate to the narrator
Explanation
The repeated phrase “Just as you” links the reader’s experience to the narrator’s: both look at the river and sky, feel refreshed, and stand by the rail as the current moves them. By showing that people across time can share these same experiences, the passage emphasizes that the narrator’s experience is universal. The choice saying the reader and narrator are from different times may be true in the poem, but that is not the main point of these comparisons.
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