Read the poem. Then answer the questions that follows:
Afternoon in School – The Last Lesson by D.H. Lawrence
When will the bell ring, and end this weariness?
How long have they tugged the leash, and strained apart
My pack of unruly hounds: I cannot start
Them again on a quarry of knowledge they hate to hunt,
I can haul them and urge them no more.
No more can I endure to bear the brunt
Of the books that lie out on the desks: a full three score
Of several insults of blotted pages and scrawl
Of slovenly work that they have offered me.
I am sick, and tired more than any thrall
Upon the woodstacks working weariedly.
And shall I take
The last dear fuel and heap it on my soul
Till I rouse my will like a fire to consume
Their dross of indifference, and burn the scroll
Of their insults in punishment? — I will not!
I will not waste myself to embers for them,
Not all for them shall the fires of my life be hot,
For myself a heap of ashes of weariness, till sleep
Shall have raked the embers clear: I will keep
Some of my strength for myself, for if I should sell
It all for them, I should hate them —
— I will sit and wait for the bell.
Which statement best describes the tone created by the imagery of the school books?
Question 8 options:
The detailed imagery describing the books creates a hopeful and exhilarated tone.
The exaggerated imagery of the books creates a despairing tone.
Words like endure and brunt create a hateful tone.
Words like work, brunt, and offered create a determined and positive tone.