Question

In this excerpt from Herman Melville’s short story "The Lightning-Rod Man," which two sentences or phrases best support an objective summary of the excerpt?

Hark! There go all the granite Taconics and Hoosics dashed together like pebbles. By the sound, that must have struck something.

An elevation of five feet above the house, will protect twenty feet radius all about the rod.

Only twenty dollars, sir—a dollar a foot. Hark!—Dreadful!—Will you order? Will you buy? Shall I put down your name? Think of being a heap of charred offal like a haltered horse burnt in his stall; and all in one flash!"

"You pretended envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to and from Jupiter Tonans,"

laughed I; "you mere man who come here to put you and your pipestem between clay and sky, do you think that because you can strike a bit of green light from the Leyden jar, that you can thoroughly avert the supernal bolt? Your rod rusts, or breaks, and where are you?

Who has empowered you, you Tetzel, to peddle round your indulgences from divine ordinations? The hairs of our heads are numbered, and the days of our lives. In thunder as in sunshine, I stand at ease in the hands of my God.

False negotiator, away! See, the scroll of the storm is rolled back; the house is unharmed; and in the blue heavens I read in the rainbow, that the Deity will not, of purpose, make war on man's earth."

Answer 1

The correct answers are D) "You pretended envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to and from Jupiter Tonans," and F) Who has empowered you, you Tetzel, to peddle round your indulgences from divine ordinations? The hairs of our heads are numbered, and the days of our lives. In thunder as in sunshine, I stand at ease in the hands of my God.

The other options of the question were A) A.Hark! There go all the granite Taconics and Hoosics dashed together like pebbles. By the sound, that must have struck something. B) An elevation of five feet above the house will protect twenty feet radius all about the rod. C) Think of being a heap of charred offal like a haltered horse burnt in his stall; and all in one flash!"

E) laughed I; "you mere man who come here to put you and your pipestem between clay and sky, do you think that because you can strike a bit of green light from the Leyden jar, that you can thoroughly avert the supernal bolt? Your rod rusts, or breaks, and where are you? G) See, the scroll of the storm is rolled back; the house is unharmed; and in the blue heavens I read in the rainbow, that the Deity will not, of purpose, make war on man's earth."

Herman Melville’s short story "The Lightning-Rod Man," is part of the collection of stories that can be found in the book "The Piazza Tales," written in 1856. He also authored other great books such as "Mardi," "Israel Potter," and "Type."

Answer 2

A good summary of The Lightning-Rod Man, published in the 1856 book "The Piazza Tales", would be the following sentences:

"An elevation of five feet above the house, will protect twenty feet radius all about the rod."

"Who has empowered you, you Tetzel, to peddle round your indulgences from divine ordinations? The hairs of our heads are numbered, and the days of our lives. In thunder as in sunshine, I stand at ease in the hands of my God."

These three sentences represent well the main idea behind the story, which present a door to door salesman trying to sell a lightning-rod during a storm.