Read the passage from "The Pursuit of Happiness"
The woman on the far side of the desk looks at the floor, Her head full of Ireland and the potatoes that blackened and curled and rotted away. We grew only sadness there She wants to say. But this she whispers instead: "I have come to work as a chambermaid” And the Important Person stamps her papers without hearing the rest. "To scrub floors and wash linens until my hands are red and raw, and I have polished happiness for my child So she can become a teacher with hands the color of cream.” Which excerpt from the poem best supports the overall theme?
And the Important Person stamps her papers without hearing the rest.
and the potatoes that blackened and curled and rotted away.
So she can become a teacher / with hands the color of cream.
The woman on the far side of the desk looks at the floor
Answer:
and the potatoes that blackened and curled and rotted away.
Explanation:
The excerpt from the poem that best supports the overall theme is "and the potatoes that blackened and curled and rotted away.
From the passage, the woman that came to work as a chambermaid but is described as having her head full of Ireland and blackened potatoes that have rotten. In the next line, she wants to say that "We grew only sadness there" to emphasize the state things were which was bad and depressing.