Question

Read the excerpt from A History of the World in 100 Objects.

In the early nineteenth century Japan had been effectively closed off from the world for 200 years. It had simply opted out of the community of nations.

Kings are burning somewhere,

Wheels are turning somewhere,

Trains are being run,

Wars are being won,

Things are being done

In the early nineteenth century

How does the author's hook engage the reader?

It gives the reader detailed information about the subject that will be discussed at length in the passage.
It makes the reader wonder how the quotation from the poem relates to the topic of the passage.
It interests the reader into figuring out what was happening in Japan over 200 hundred years ago.
It makes the reader understand the cultural atmosphere in Japan in the early nineteenth century

Answer 1

It makes the reader wonder how the quotation from the poem relates to the topic of the passage.

The poem’s lines contrast bustling activity elsewhere with the statement that Japan had “opted out,” prompting curiosity about that contrast and how the quotation connects to Japan’s situation.