Literary scholar Dr. Marcus Thorne argues that early twentieth-century modernist poetry in America, though often characterized as detached from daily life, frequently employed metaphors of industrial machinery to evoke intimate human emotions. Thorne contends that these poets used mechanical processes to represent the internal psychological states of their speakers, thereby bridging the divide between the impersonal modern world and personal experience.
Which choice, if true, would most directly support Thorne's argument?
- AEarly twentieth-century American literature frequently explored the theme of alienation, reflecting the broad societal changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution.
- BSeveral modernist poems from the early twentieth century detail the physical layout of urban factories and describe the grueling daily routines of factory workers.
- In a prominent poem from the era, the speaker describes the growing distance between two lovers by comparing their failing communication to the slipping gears of an assembly line belt.Answer
- DMany modernist poets publicly expressed in their essays that they found traditional nature metaphors inadequate for representing the speed and noise of modern cities.
Answer
The option stating that a speaker compares the failing communication between lovers to the slipping gears of an assembly line belt.
The correct option describes a poem that uses a metaphor of industrial machinery (slipping gears of an assembly line) to represent a personal, intimate human emotion (the failing communication between lovers). This directly supports the scholar's claim that modernist poets used mechanical processes to evoke internal psychological states and intimate emotions.
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Key Concept
Command of Evidence: Textual