AP English Literature · Figurative language
In lines 5-8, the description of the remembered landscape chiefly has the effect of
Claude McKay, “The Tropics in New York” (1922)
1Bananas ripe and green, and ginger-root,
2 Cocoa in pods and alligator pears,
3And tangerines and mangoes and grape fruit,
4 Fit for the highest prize at parish fairs,
5Set in the window, bringing memories
6 Of fruit-trees laden by low-singing rills,
7And dewy dawns, and mystical blue skies
8 In benediction over nun-like hills.
9My eyes grew dim, and I could no more gaze;
10 A wave of longing through my body swept,
11And, hungry for the old, familiar ways,
12 I turned aside and bowed my head and wept.
Claude McKay, “The Tropics in New York,” from <em>Harlem Shadows</em> (1922). Public-domain text.
In lines 5-8, the description of the remembered landscape chiefly has the effect of
Answer and explanation
Answer: C: elevating memory into an idealized, almost sacred vision that intensifies the speaker's sense of separation
Lines 5-8 describe low-singing streams, dewy dawns, and hills that are "nun-like" under a "benediction" of sky. This sacred diction raises memory into an idealized vision and sharpens the speaker's sense of separation, so C is correct. Choice A is tempting because the display and memory are paired, but the poem never ranks the fruit against fruit grown at home. Choice B calls the memory vague, while the stanza is full of concrete detail. Choice D treats the religious imagery as a replacement for attachment to home, when it actually describes the loved landscape.
More Figurative language questions
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