Question

Read the excerpt from "A Quilt of a Country."

Once these disparate parts were held together by a common enemy, by the fault lines of world wars and the electrified fence of communism. With the end of the cold war there was the creeping concern that without a focus for hatred and distrust, a sense of national identity would evaporate, that the left side of the hyphen—African-American, Mexican-American, Irish-American—would overwhelm the right.

What method best helps you determine the denotative meaning of fault lines?

Analyze the connotation of “fault lines” within the excerpt.
Define “fault lines” from the overall feeling in the neighboring sentences.
Research the meaning of “fault lines” in an earth science textbook.

Answer 1

Best method to determine the denotative meaning: Research the meaning of “fault lines” in an earth-science source.
(Denotative = the literal, dictionary/geological meaning.)

Literal (denotative) definition: a fault line is a fracture or zone of fractures in the Earth’s crust along which blocks of rock move relative to each other; it is a site of weakness where stress is released (often producing earthquakes).

Connotation of “fault lines” in the excerpt: metaphorically it suggests deep-seated divisions and underlying tensions within society—hidden weaknesses that can shift or rupture. The phrase evokes instability, potential conflict, and a landscape split into opposing blocks (groups) that are held apart or strained.

Definition from neighboring sentences (contextual/figurative meaning): here “fault lines” refers to social and political cleavages—ethnic, racial, ideological divisions—that once were suppressed or bridged by common enemies but that could reopen and fracture the nation once that external focus disappears.