Question

Highlight a context clue that points to the meaning of the word agitation.

Each time he had pulled on a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree – an imperceptible agitation, so far as he was concerned, but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster. High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow. This fell on the boughs beneath, capsizing them. This process continued, spreading out and involving the whole tree. It grew like an avalanche, and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire, and the fire was blotted out! Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow.

–“To Build a Fire,”
Jack London

Read the passage. What is the meaning of the word agitation?

a shaking or disturbance
a written message
a rapid drop in temperature
a process or procedure

Answer 1

Answer: a shaking or disturbance.

Context clue: “High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow. This fell on the boughs beneath, capsizing them… It grew like an avalanche…”

These phrases show movement and disturbance, so agitation means a shaking or disturbance.