Question

Review the stanza from "The Bat Poet":   Curled at his breast, he sits there while the sun Stripes the red west With its last light: the chipmunk Dives to his rest.   Which best explains how the stanza's structure contributes to the poem's meaning? The line lengths vary, which suggests the chipmunk's movement: quickly running, then stopping and watching for danger. There is little punctuation, which shows that the chipmunk lacks a formal education. The poem says that the chipmunk "dives to his rest," which shows that he is sluggish and unmotivated. The regular meter of the lines suggests the formal and calculated nature of the chipmunk's life.

Answer 1

The best answer is the first one.

The physical structure of the lines (long, short, medium, shortest) mimic the chipmunk's movement. He runs, he stops, he runs again.

Furthermore, the others can be eliminated simply by the fact that they do not make sense: one would not expect a chipmunk to have a formal education; if the chipmunk is diving he could not also be sluggish; a chipmunk would not have formal and calculated life.

Therefore, the best answer is the first one.

Answer 2

A. The line lengths vary, which suggests the chipmunk's movement: quickly running, then stopping and watching for danger.