The following text is adapted from Zora Neale Hurston’s 1921 short story “John Redding Goes...
The following text is adapted from Zora Neale Hurston’s 1921 short story “John Redding Goes to Sea.” John is a child who lives in a town in the woods. Perhaps ten-year-old John was puzzling to the folk there in the Florida woods for he was an imaginative child and fond of day-dreams. The St. John River flowed a scarce three hundred feet from his back door. On its banks at this point grow numerous palms, luxuriant magnolias and bay trees. On the bosom of the stream float millions of delicately colored hyacinths.[John Redding] loved to wander down to the water’s edge, and, casting in dry twigs, watch them sail away down stream to Jacksonville, the sea, the wide world and [he] wanted to follow them. Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
- A) It provides an extended description of a location that John likes to visit.
- B) It reveals that some residents of John
- C) It illustrates the uniqueness of John
- D) It suggests that John longs to experience a larger life outside the Florida woods.
Correct Answer: D) It suggests that John longs to experience a larger life outside the Florida woods.
Explanation
Based on the provided underlined sentence, it suggests that John loves to wander down to the water's edge and watch dry twigs sail away down the stream. It further expresses his desire to follow them to Jacksonville, the sea, and the wider world. Therefore, the most accurate choice that describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole would be D) It suggests that John longs to experience a larger life outside the Florida woods. The underlined sentence highlights John's longing for exploration and his yearning to venture beyond his current surroundings to experience a broader world beyond the Florida woods.