The Odyssey and Epic Poetry: An Introduction, Part 1 — Cumulative exam
Question 22 • Online ELA 9 - A
Read the excerpt from Part 4 of The Odyssey.I happened to glance aft at ship and oarsmen and caught sight of their arms and legs, dangling high overhead. Voices came down to me in anguish, calling my name for the last time.A man surfcasting on a point of rock for bass or mackerel, whipping his long rod to drop the sinker and the bait far out, will hook a fish and rip it from the surface to dangle wriggling through the air:so thesewere borne aloft in spasms toward the cliff.
Answer
A
Odysseus’s men are compared to fishermen, showing their resourcefulness.
B
Odysseus’s men are compared to fishermen, showing their love of the sea.
C
Odysseus’s men are compared to caught fish, showing their history.
D
Odysseus’s men are compared to caught fish, showing their helplessness.
Explanation
The passage compares Odysseus’s men, dangling in the air, to fish ripped from the water and left wriggling helplessly on a line. The comparison emphasizes that the men have no control over what is happening to them, so the correct choice is “Odysseus’s men are compared to caught fish, showing their helplessness.”
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