“Burning a book” by William Stafford
Protecting each other, right in the center a few pages glow a long time. The cover goes first, then outer leaves curling away, then spine and a scattering. Truth, brittle and faint, burns easily, it’s fire as hot as the fire lies make—flame doesn’t care. You can usually find a few charred words in the ashes.
And some books ought to burn, trying for character but just faking it. More disturbing than book ashes are whole libraries that no one got around to writing—desolate towns, miles of unthought in cities, and the terrorized countryside where while dogs own anything that moves. If a book isn’t written, no one needs to burn it—ignorance can dance in the absent of fire.
So I’ve burned books. And there are many I haven’t even written, and nobody has.
1) Which of the following best summarized the theme of the poem?
A: ignorance and a lack of new ideas are greater threats to society than burning books.
B: book burning creates ignorance and chaos in societies; free speech should be encouraged.
C: the worst threat of censorship is its ability to erase prominent writers from history.
D: we are all guilty of censorship when we reject ideas that do not align with our own.
2) Describe the structure of the poem, and explain how this structure supports the development of the theme. Cite evidence from the poem in your response.