by Guillermo Cotto-Thorner
Mankind has won a victory over the horizontal. New York aims overhead, is in perpetual pugilism with space. From the hard rock of Manhattan, man has shot up to conquer the clouds. Strapping buildings, as tall and long as the jíbaro’s hope, dotted symmetrically with windows and bordered with a little aesthetic detail to silence the critics—austere, linear, devastating. In summer, they give the impression of macabre furnaces where eyelashes burn, bodies melt down and all feeling contorts and loses its sense.
Excerpt from "Manhattan Tropics" by Guillermo Cotto-Thorner is being reprinted with permission from the publisher (©Arte Público Press - University of Houston)
Question
Use the passage to answer the question.
Which statement best describes the author's point of view towards his subject in this passage?
(1 point)
Responses
He feels New York has promise but it needs changes to serve its people.
He feels New York has promise but it needs changes to serve its people.
He sees New York as a place where hopes and dreams can flourish.
He sees New York as a place where hopes and dreams can flourish.
He feels the goals that the builders of New York had were misguided.
He feels the goals that the builders of New York had were misguided.
He sees New York as a marvel of modern society and a great achievement.
He sees New York as a marvel of modern society and a great achievement.
1 answer
The statement that best describes the author's point of view towards his subject in this passage is:
He feels the goals that the builders of New York had were misguided.
The language used in the excerpt suggests a critical view of the skyscrapers and the environment they create, depicting them as "macabre furnaces" that are detrimental to human experience, thus indicating a sense of misguided ambition in the construction and design of New York's architecture.
