1. Lines 1-2: What does it mean to be “allied”? What might “allied with grew” suggest about the story’s theme? What evidence in lines 1-2 support this inference

2. Lines 15-17: How does the author use personification in these lines? How does this use of personification reveal the narrator’s feelings about plants

3. Lines 59-66: What examples in these lines reveal the narrative’s essential message? How do they reveal it?

4. Lines 69-71: What figurative expression is in these lines? What comparison is being made? How does this support the theme?

5. Line 98-105: Analyze line 105 and explain what the author means by “carry a bucket”. How does this further reinforce the story’s moral/lesson?

Read the following excerpt from "dark tower" by claude mckay before you choose your answer. "we shall not always plant while others reap the golden increment of bursting fruit, nor always countenance, abject and mute, that lesser men should hold their brothers cheap; not everlastingly while others sleep shall we beguile their limbs with mellow flute, not always bend to some more subtle brute. we were not made eternally to weep. the night, whose sable breast relieves the stark, white stars, is no less lovely being dark; and there are buds that cannot bloom at all in light, but crumple, piteous, and fall. so in the dark we hid the heart that bleeds, and wait, and tend our agonizing needs." in context, the expression "the night, whose sable breast relieves the stark,/ white stars, is no less lovely being dark; " is best interpreted as a. the light of the stars overpowers the black of night b. the black of night overpowers the light of the stars c. black and white contribute equally to the beauty of the night sky d. black and white continuously compete for prominence in the night sky