Question

The Tropics in New York
By Claude McKay
Bananas ripe and green, and ginger-root,
Cocoa in pods and alligator pears
And tangerines and mangoes and grape fruit,
Fit for the highest prize at parish fairs
Set in the window, bringing memories
Of fruit-trees laden by low-singing rills,
And dewy dawns, and mystical blue skies
in benediction over nun-like hills.
My eyes grew dim, and I could no more gaze;
A wave of longing through my body swept,
And, hungry for the old, familiar ways,
I turned aside and bowed my head and wept.
A student identified this theme of the poem: Simple sensory experiences can cause homesickness.
What detail from the poem best supports this theme?
Choose 1 answer:
Choose 1 answer:
(Choice A) The speaker vividly remembers the hours he spent in prayer with Jamaican nuns.
A
The speaker vividly remembers the hours he spent in prayer with Jamaican nuns.
(Choice B) Observing sunrises and clear skies in New York makes the speaker long for Jamaica’s warmth.
B
Observing sunrises and clear skies in New York makes the speaker long for Jamaica’s warmth.
(Choice C) Seeing colorful tropical fruit for sale in New York painfully reminds the speaker of Jamaica.
C
Seeing colorful tropical fruit for sale in New York painfully reminds the speaker of Jamaica.
(Choice D) The speaker, overcome with a longing for New York’s skyline, must turn away from the Jamaican countryside.
D
The speaker, overcome with a longing for New York’s skyline, must turn away from the Jamaican countryside.

Answer 1

The detail from the poem that best supports the theme "Simple sensory experiences can cause homesickness" is:

**(Choice C)** Seeing colorful tropical fruit for sale in New York painfully reminds the speaker of Jamaica.

This choice highlights how encountering familiar sensory experiences, such as the sight of tropical fruit, evokes memories of the speaker's homeland, leading to feelings of longing and homesickness.