16Hit1600
Information and IdeasHardQuotation supporting a claim about a poem's tone

Information and Ideas practice question

A critic argues that the poem treats old age with humour rather than sorrow.

Which quotation from the poem would best support the critic's claim?

  1. A. 'My knees now hold a conference each morning / on whether to get up, and they are split.'Correct
  2. B. 'The light goes early and I go with it.'
  3. C. 'I count the friends I have not yet outlived.'
  4. D. 'The house is quiet now, and so am I.'

Answer: A. 'My knees now hold a conference each morning / on whether to get up, and they are split.'

Knees holding a 'conference' and being 'split': a joke about age.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. 'The light goes early and I go with it.'
Melancholy, not humour.
C. 'I count the friends I have not yet outlived.'
Sorrowful — counting survivors.
D. 'The house is quiet now, and so am I.'
Quiet resignation, not humour.

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