72
QuizMultiple Choice

Research Workshop: Writing an Argumentative Essay — Cumulative exam

Question 72 • ALT ENG 11 S2 Common Core ELA 11 2014 - ELA3011 B-CR

Read the excerpt from Richard Wright’s Black Boy.Hunger stole upon me so slowly that at first I was not aware of what hunger really meant. Hunger had always been more or less at my elbow when I played, but now I began to wake up at night to find hunger standing at my bedside, staring at me gauntly. The hunger I had known before this had been no grim, hostile stranger; it had been a normal hunger that had made me beg constantly for bread, and when I ate a crust or two I was satisfied. But this new hunger baffled me, scared me, and made me angry and insistent. Whenever I begged for food now my mother would pour me a cup of tea which would still the clamor in my stomach for a moment or two; but a little later I would feel hunger nudging my ribs, twisting my empty guts till they ached. I would grow dizzy and my vision would dim. I became less active in my play, and for the first time in my life I had to pause and think of what was happening to me.Which best describes why Wright includes this anecdote?

Answer
A
to show how poverty shaped his behavior when he was younger
B
to vividly depict the hardships caused by oppression and segregation
C
to realistically portray the struggles he endured as a child
D
to provide an accurate account of the injustices he experienced as a youth

Explanation

Wright describes hunger through specific, physical details: it wakes him at night, twists his stomach, makes him dizzy, and dims his vision. These details make the hardships he endured as a child feel immediate and realistic. The excerpt focuses on his experience of hunger rather than directly explaining segregation or other injustices.

AI-written and checked against the verified answer.