"Sestina" by Elizabeth Bishop
In this poem, Bishop tells her own story. Her father died when she was a child and her mother never recovered from a nervous breakdown. Bishop had to live with older relatives for many many years.
In the poem, the grandma feels sadness because of the whole situation and because of the innocence of the child but she hides her sadness by laughing and talking to the child.
<em>"reading the jokes from the almanac, </em>
<em>laughing and talking to hide her tears."</em>
<em>-Sestina </em>
Why does the grandmother laugh and talk?
A. to entertain the almanac
B. to hide her tears
C. to entertain the child to make the time pass
The underlined word is not given. However, in this sentence the verb is active. The correct answer is A.
Is there a passage we can read to further understand this?
