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Question

Difficulty: MediumSetting and Historical Context

Read the following poem carefully before choosing your answer:

The Glass Veranda

The pine-clean wind is barred by double glass,
Where row on row of narrow cots are laid
In clinical symmetry; we watch the seasons pass,
Immured in white, of our own breath afraid.
Down in the valley, charcoal chimneys choke
The bustling streets with soot and heavy steam,
But here, the mountain doctors would invoke
A colder cure, a silent, sterile dream.
They banish books, they quarantine our sighs,
And dose our lungs with pure, unyielding frost,
As if this clean, high altitude denies
The dark mortality the lowlands cost.

In the context of the poem, what is the primary thematic function of the contrast between the mountain veranda and the valley below?

  1. A
    present a straightforward contrast between a healthy mountain climate and the disease-ridden atmosphere of industrial cities
  2. B
    describe the chronological movement of the speaker as they journey from the soot-filled valley up to the mountain resort
  3. establish the mountain retreat as a place of sterile confinement that ironically strips the patients of their vitality under the guise of curing themAnswer
  4. D
    express the author's personal nostalgia for a peaceful alpine childhood far removed from modern factory labor
  5. E
    draw an allusion to a sacred sanctuary where the clean air symbolizes the spiritual redemption of the speaker

Answer

The setting of the mountain veranda is established as a place of sterile confinement that ironically strips the patients of their vitality under the guise of curing them.
The correct answer identifies the primary thematic function of the contrast: the mountain veranda is represented as a sterile space of confinement that isolates the patients from the active, vital world represented by the valley below. Although the valley is contaminated by industrial soot, it remains the domain of active life, whereas the mountain cure is cold, sterile, and restrictive.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the description of the mountain setting in the poem.
The mountain veranda is characterized by restrictive words such as 'barred,' 'cots,' 'clinical symmetry,' 'immured,' 'sterile,' and 'quarantine.'
This establishes that the mountain setting is not merely a scenic backdrop but a highly controlled, sterile environment of confinement.
2
Analyze the description of the valley setting and how it contrasts with the mountain.
The valley is described as 'bustling' but also 'choked' with charcoal soot and steam.
This represents the active, industrial world of the living, which, despite its contamination, contains the vitality of life that the sterile mountain environment lacks.
3
Synthesize the contrast to determine its primary thematic function.
The contrast demonstrates that the attempt to cure disease in the isolated mountain setting results in a clinical isolation that confines and diminishes the patient's actual experience of living.
This aligns with the central irony of preserving life by sterile confinement, making the correct option the one identifying the mountain retreat as a place of sterile confinement.

Key Concept

Setting and Historical Context
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Setting and Historical Context

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