Question

Read this excerpt from "The World on Turtle's Back." The animals thought that perhaps there was dirt at the depths of the ocean, but they had never tried to reach the bottom before. One by one they tried to swim down, but their attempts were futile. Finally, the muskrat disappeared into the cold depth of the ocean. After a lengthy amount of time, he drifted to the surface with a tiny speck of earth in his hand. He appeared to be dead, but the animals prayed and chanted, and finally he stirred. The Earth-Diver was successful in bringing forth the soil to make the earth grow. Which sentences from the excerpt best support the idea that the Iroquois valued sacrifice by one for the good of all? The animals thought that perhaps there was dirt at the depths of the ocean, but they had never tried to reach the bottom before. After a lengthy amount of time, he drifted to the surface with a tiny speck of earth in his hand. He appeared to be dead. . . . [T]he animals prayed and chanted, and finally he stirred. The Earth-Diver was successful in bringing forth the soil to make the earth grow.

Answer 1

Which sentences from the excerpt best support the idea that the Iroquois valued sacrifice by one for the good of all?

After a lengthy amount of time, he drifted to the surface with a tiny speck of earth in his hand. He appeared to be dead. . . .

Answer 2

The correct answer is the second option. When the muskrat dove into the sea, we can infer that he reached the bottom, since his hand held a "tiny speck of earth" upon resurfacing. However, the muskrat likely did not have enough time or oxygen to swim all the way back up, and so instead held on to the dirt and drowned, allowing the body to float back to the surface. In this way, he sacrificed his own life, knowing that the dirt he procured would "make the earth grow."