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QuizMultiple Choice

Pursuing the Dream as a Central Idea in Poetry

Question 1 • (OC27) ENG 4-1001400-S2-VRobinson-VOL7006P

Read these stanzas from the poem "A Poet and His Song" by Paul Laurence Dunbar.My days are never days of ease;I till my ground and prune my trees.When ripened gold is all the plain,I put my sickle to the grain.I labor hard, and toil and sweat,While others dream within the dell;But even while my brow is wet,I sing my song, and all is well. Sometimes the sun, unkindly hot,My garden makes a desert spot;Sometimes a blight upon the treeTakes all my fruit away from me;And then with throes of bitter painRebellious passions rise and swell;But—life is more than fruit or grain,And so I sing, and all is well.How is the message of this poem similar to the poet’s message in "Mother to Son"?

Answer
A
Both poems celebrate American agriculture.
B
Both poems suggest that physical labor is enjoyable.
C
Both poems encourage endurance through hardships.
D
Both poems insist that hard work leads to wealth.
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