Question

In this excerpt from the poem "Learning to Read" by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, what is the meaning of the word rising?

And said there is no use trying,
Oh! Chloe, you're too late;
But as I was rising sixty,
I had no time to wait.

A. advancing

B. approaching

C. increasing

D. elevating

E. succeeding

Answer 1

Answer: B. approaching.

Step-by-step explanation:

• The word approaching means to come near to a certain distance, time or anything else.
• In the given excerpt, the word rising is placed before sixty which indicates the age.
• In the given poem the character is saying "but as I was rising sixty" this means that the word rising points out to reaching the age of sixty and because the word approaching means to come near to something, it is the most appropriate answer.

Answer 2

The correct option is B.
To be rising means to be going up or to be increasing. Based on the way the word 'rising was used in the given excerpt, the word implies approaching. What the character in the poem was trying to say is that, since he is approaching his 60th birthday, he felt that time is going and he can not afford to waste anytime again, so he set out to accomplish his desires.