Read the excerpt from chapter 11 of the awakening.

edna arose, cramped from lying so long and still in the hammock. she tottered up the steps, clutching feebly at the post before passing into the house.

which words and phrases from the excerpt best reflect chopin’s connotative style?

“lying so long,” “hammock,” and “house”

“arose,” “still,” and “up the steps”

“cramped,” “tottered,” and “clutching feebly”

“at the post,” “before,” and “passing into”

The correct answer is 'cramped', 'tottered', and 'clutching feebly'. These are all examples of negative connotation, which add to the atmosphere of the excerpt. If you took out 'tottered' and 'clutching feebly' from the second sentence and added words that mean the same but have different connotations, it wouldn't be the same to the reader. For example:

She walked up the steps, briefly putting her hand on the post before passing into the house.

You see, it doesn't have the same meaning to the reader. It doesn't imply the same weakness and pain that Edna is feeling as the original sentence does. If you were to replace the words from the other answer choices with words of the same denotation, it wouldn't make much of a difference to the reader.