Question

Read the excerpt from "Missing in Action” by Thanhha Lai.

(1) Father left home
(2) on a navy mission
(3) on this day
(4) nine years ago
(5) when I was almost one.

(6) He was captured
(7) on Route 1
(8) an hour south of the city
(9) by moped.

(10) That’s all we know.

Which detail about the line length most contributes to the tone of the excerpt?

Line 1 establishes a mysterious event that the speaker wants the reader to solve.
The end of the first stanza emphasizes the speaker’s sadness over how young she was at that time.
Line 7 helps the reader identify where the event described by the speaker occurred.
The one-sentence stanza emphasizes the speaker’s frank attitude toward the event being described.

Answer 1

The detail that most contributes to the tone of the excerpt is:

**The one-sentence stanza emphasizes the speaker’s frank attitude toward the event being described.**

This choice highlights the directness and simplicity of the statement, reflecting the speaker's straightforward acknowledgment of a painful memory without embellishment, which contributes to the overall tone of sadness and loss.