What tone does this passage convey?

angela wanted to try out for the softball team, but she kept thinking about how awful it felt when she did not make the team last year. she knew she had improved her skills over the summer. her brother played catch with her almost every day, and she practiced at the batting cages about once per week. despite her improvement, angela thought she might not be good enough, so she decided not to sign up for the tryouts.

a. humorous

b. satirical

c. optimistic

d. pessimistic

Discuss how social status may align with historical criticism.

In the first line of each stanza, the author follows the pattern of a noun followed by a pair of adjectives. what is the purpose of this pattern?

Read the excerpt from the poem "growing up italian" by maria mazziotti gillan and answer the question that follows. when i was a little girl, i thought everyone was italian, and that was good. we visted our aunts and uncles, and they visted us. the italian language smooth and sweet in my mouth. in kindergarten, english words fell on me, thick and sharp as hail. i grew silent, the italian word balanced on the edge of my tongue and the english word, lost during the first moment of every question. source: gillan, maria mazziotti. "growing up italian." poetrymagazine.com. poetry magazine, n.d. web. 30 mar. 2011. what is the tone of this poem? what does the tone reveal about the speaker of the poem and the conflict she faces? based on this excerpt, what can you predict about the theme of the poem?