Question

Infer the poem begins with an allusion to the Grand Coulee Dam, built on the Columbia River in the mid-20th century and widely considered to be an engineering marvel. Reread lines 1-3. What is the speaker’s view of the dam? Tell what image helps you understand the speaker’s feelings about the dam. The speaker of the poem has a…

a) Positive view; the image is of strength and resilience
b) Negative view; the image is of destruction and danger
c) Neutral view; the image is of beauty and elegance
d) Mixed view; the image is of both admiration and concern

Answer 1

The speaker of the poem seems to have a mixed view of the Grand Coulee Dam, seeing it as both an example of human achievement and a source of potential destruction or environmental concern.

Step-by-step explanation:

The poem begins with an allusion to the Grand Coulee Dam to introduce complicated feelings about human progress and nature. Given the imagery throughout the poem that seems to find beauty in pollution and destruction, as well as in nature, the speaker's view is not straightforward. The repeated notion that finds beauty where it is not typically seen suggests a complex emotional landscape. Based on the examples given where destructive elements are seen as beautiful, it can be inferred that the poem's speaker has a mixed view; they see the image of the dam as representing both admiration for human achievement and concern for its impacts.