Question

Read the excerpt from “Street Cleaning Day.”

An open space on the street
snapped him out of his thoughts
and back to the wheel.
He sped up a little
and moved close to the curb,
pulling ahead of the space.
Just as he shifted his car
in reverse, a flash
swooped in from behind
and took from Square
what the morning had offered.

How is this excerpt important to the poem as a whole?

It shows the exposition.
It introduces the main characters.
It shows the falling action.
It introduces the conflict.

Answer 1

It introduces the conflict.

The lines show another driver (“a flash”) swooping in and taking the open space Square was trying to claim, creating the central problem (the struggle over the parking spot) that drives the poem’s action.