Question 4 of 12 Beat! beat! drums!-blow! bugles! blow! Through the windows-through doors-burst like a ruthless force, Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation, Into the school where the scholar is studying; -Walt Whitman, "Best! Beat! Drums!" Which statement best explains how the alliteration in this excerpt from a poem about the Civil War contributes to its meaning?

The repetition of the "s" sound in line 4 creates a soft sound that represents regular life in contrast to the exciting sounds of war.

Explanation:

Alliteration is the repetition of sounds or letters at the beginning of words that are close to each other in a structure. In this excerpt, we can find alliteration with the sounds /b/ and /s/.

The two options that refer to the alliteration of /b/ are incorrect. It does not create an exciting nor a soothing sound. Quite the opposite, the purpose is to remind us of bombs and explosions, of violence and death.

As for the options concerning the /s/ sound, the only correct one is letter D. The repetition of the "s" helps the imagery in the poem. Its sound is soft, especially when opposed to the sound of shots and explosions. The same way, the scholar studying is a peaceful image, while the war, the invasion, the death previously described is anything but.

the words "strangest" and "unusual" suggest (:

active voice: my father cut the tree.

passive voice: the tree was cut by my father.

active voice: people buy newspapers every day.

passive voice: newspapers are bought (by people) every day.

active voice: people have been using movies as political propaganda since world war ii.

passive voice: movies have been used as political propaganda since world war ii.

active voice: donna gave me my birthday present.

passive voice: i was given my birthday present (by donna). / my birthday present was given to me (by donna).

active voice: mom will leave the keys on the counter.

passive voice: the keys will be left (by mom) on the counter.

the words in parentheses are the agent of the passive voice and can be omitted when obvious, generic, or simply unnecessary.