Question

Read the excerpt from “The Scarlet Ibis.”

But Mama, crying, told me that even if William Armstrong lived, he would never do these things with me. He might not, she sobbed, even be “all there.” He might, as long as he lived, lie on the rubber sheet in the center of the bed in the front bedroom where the white marquisette curtains billowed out in the afternoon sea breeze, rustling like palmetto fronds.

What best describes the effect of the sensory imagery used in this excerpt?

It allows the reader to correctly predict that Doodle will never be able to walk.
It helps the reader to better visualize the life that might lie ahead for Doodle.
It introduces the reader to the setting that exists throughout most of the story.
It shows the reader to see that Doodle’s mom is incapable of feeling hope.

Answer 1

It helps the reader to better visualize the life that might lie ahead for Doodle.

The imagery (the child lying on a rubber sheet, curtains billowing, sea breeze, rustling fronds) creates a clear picture of a passive, sheltered existence the mother fears for him.