Question

Read this excerpt from "A Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King Jr.:

Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.

Which statement best describes the connotative meaning of the word quicksand?


It has a negative connotation, suggesting instability and stymied progress.

It has a negative connotation, suggesting misplaced anger and vice.

It has a positive connotation, suggesting speed and efficiency.

It has a positive connotation, suggesting hope and radical change.

Answer 1

In the context of King's letter, the word "quicksand" has a negative connotation, suggesting instability and stymied progress. King is using the word as a metaphor to represent the state of racial inequality and injustice in America at the time. King wrote this from jail in 1963 in response to a letter that was published in Alabama newspapers by white clergy urging blacks not to get involved in King's demonstrations.

Answer 2

It has a negative connotation, suggesting instability and stymied progress.

A connotative meaning is something that is associated to or an expression carried by the dictionary meaning of the word. The possible connotation of “quicksand” is “instability and stymied progress” as its primary meaning which is an area/situation that is difficult to escape can be associated to describe the racial injustice of the nation, as the excerpt says.