16Hit1600
Information and IdeasHardQuotation supporting a claim about a speaker's ambivalence

Information and Ideas practice question

A critic argues that the speaker of the poem is torn between wanting to be found and wanting to stay hidden.

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

  1. A. 'I left the porch light on and locked the door, / and listened, half in hope, for steps I feared.'Correct
  2. B. 'Come in, come in, the door was never locked.'
  3. C. 'I drew the curtains and let the darkness keep me.'
  4. D. 'The road was empty and I did not mind.'

Answer: A. 'I left the porch light on and locked the door, / and listened, half in hope, for steps I feared.'

Light on and door locked; hope and fear in one line: the pull both ways.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. 'Come in, come in, the door was never locked.'
Pure welcome, no hiding.
C. 'I drew the curtains and let the darkness keep me.'
Pure hiding, no wish to be found.
D. 'The road was empty and I did not mind.'
Indifference, not conflict.

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