Question

Read the following line from:
"Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead"

Which of the following words best describes the speaker's tone?

detached
mournful
objective
sympathetic

I can rule out A and C, as the do not convey the tone that is in the line.

I am stuck on whether to choose B or D though.
I think it is sympathetic more than mournful since the line does not have any signs of grief.

Answer 1

Title and author? It needs to be understood in the whole context.

Answer 2

Not Waving but Drowning
by Stevie Smith

Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.

Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.

Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.

In my textbook, it says Stevie Smith is know for creating poems to deal with the most basic issues: life and death.

Answer 3

Then the choice should be clear between B and D.

Answer 4

It's D right?

Answer 5

I'd go with mournful.

How sad would it be to think someone was just out there waving, but he was signaling that he was drowning and needed help? He died because people didn't read the scene right.

Answer 6

I'm not sure how you ruled out A and C but the correct answer is A, detached.

Explanation: In the context of the poem, the second stanza is the least interested one of the poem. This line does not show much sympathy to death, and simply states it. This is not mournful or sympathetic, but cannot be objective as it says "poor chap", conveying some form of personal connection to it that is not emotional.

Answer 7

D
B
A
B
C
D
A
C

Answer 8

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