Answer:
They show readers that the speaker once was strong but now is weak.
Explanation:
Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "Sonnet 11" is all about the speaker's attempts at coming to terms with who she really is. Accepting her flaws and the person she is constitutes the core of this poem.
The speaker had always berated herself, thinking low of herself. This poem deals with how she is walking on the path of self acceptance. She is learning, finding the courage to believe in herself and not comparing herself with others. The excerpt provided is taken from the lines 5 till 8, where she tells of how she used to be melancholy and sad, beating herself over her own insecurities. With the allusion to Aornus, Alexander the Great's last seige, she is implying that she has become weak, unable to even compose poems.
Answer:
Samantha is playing with a ball that bounces into the street: observation.
The ball will bounce in front of my vehicle: make assumptions.
Samantha is going to run after her bouncing ball: estabish facts and a theory.
This situation could become an accident: form opinions.
I should brake. I should swerve. I should do nothing. Create an argument to defend opinion.
I cannot brake in time, so it is best to swerve my vehicle to evade Samantha and the ball. Analyze to critique the steps.
This was the best action and I made the right decision. Draw inferences.
