Question

Read this excerpt from We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Children’s March. Wash remembers the police as "the ultimate terror . . . You saw the police, you ran. It was automatic." Why were the police so frightening? "It was a rare weekend passed," Wash said, "that one or two folk . . . didn't get killed by the police . . . This is what they'd do to you: They'd call you and make you stick your head in the window [of the police car] . . . and then they would roll the window up . . . And then they'd hit you on your head . . . They'd beat people to death." As a result, he said, parents could scare unruly children into minding them by threatening, "The police gonna get you." What is the tone of the excerpt?

shocking
mischievous
rational
hesitant

Answer 1

I'm a beginner but I'm pretty sure its shocking.

Answer 2

Answer: Shocking

The tone of this excerpt is more likely to be shocking than any of the other options. The author is trying to convey the fear that Walsh and other children felt for the police. By describing the fear the children felt, the horrible actions of the police, and the words of the parents, the author tries to provide an image that surprises and shocks an audience that did not share the same experiences.