Question

My black face fades,
hiding inside the black granite.
I said I wouldn’t
dammit: No tears.
I’m stone. I’m flesh.

—“Facing It,” Yusef Komunyakaa

All I could do was gape at the fact of the young man’s body.

Even now I haven’t finished sorting it out. Sometimes I forgive myself, other times I don’t.

—“Ambush,” Tim O’Brien

How do the authors use structure in these passages to create conflict and tension? Check all of the boxes that are correct.

Both authors create tension and conflict in the confusing thoughts they experience.

Both authors express true emotional tension through fiction.

Both authors create tension by using few words to depict action.

Both authors convey the effects of the Vietnam War on those who experienced it.

Answer 1

Correct answers: 1, 3, and 4.

Brief explanations:
- Both authors create tension and conflict in the confusing thoughts they experience — Yes. Both passages show inner conflict through fragmented, contradictory lines (“I said I wouldn’t / dammit: No tears. I’m stone. I’m flesh.”; “Sometimes I forgive myself, other times I don’t.”), which produces psychological tension.

- Both authors express true emotional tension through fiction — No. This statement is about genre rather than structure and is inaccurate as phrased: Komunyakaa’s is a lyric poem of remembered experience, while O’Brien’s piece is metafictional and blurs fact and fiction. The question asks about structure, so this choice is not correct.

- Both authors create tension by using few words to depict action — Yes. Both excerpts use short, spare lines/sentences and stark diction that condense emotion and make the speaker’s turmoil sharper and more abrupt.

- Both authors convey the effects of the Vietnam War on those who experienced it — Yes. Each excerpt focuses on the emotional aftermath (grief, guilt, memory) of Vietnam, and the structure (fragmentation, unresolved sentences) reinforces the lasting, unsettled impact.