Question

Read the excerpt from "The Story of an Hour."

When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: “free, free, free!” The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.

Which words best establish a mood of relief in the excerpt?

“slightly,” “vacant,” “eyes,” and “beat”

“whispered,” “stare,” “terror,” and “pulses”

“lips,” “stayed,” “keen,” and “blood”

“escaped,” “free,” “warmed,” and “relaxed”

Answer 1

“slightly,” “vacant,” “eyes,” and “beat”

Answer 2

The correct answer is D. “escaped,” “free,” “warmed,” and “relaxed”

Step-by-step explanation:

In a text or passage, the mood refers to the general atmosphere and the emotional features this atmosphere had in a story. This atmosphere is created using multiple elements that include the use of setting, the tone of the text, the use of description and the use of words. In this excerpt, the mood is a mood or atmosphere of relief as the narrator describes a woman that seems to have lived a difficult experience but is finally freed or relief from it. This mood is emphasized by the words "escaped" and "free, free, free!" that show the character is able to recognize the difficult situation is over and the words "warmed" and "relaxed" that shows physically she can finally feel better and she feels relief. Therefore, the words that establish a mood of relief are “escaped,” “free,” “warmed,” and “relaxed”.