Question

once these disparate parts were held together by a common enemy, by the fault lines of world wars and the electrified fence of communism. with the end of the cold war there was the creeping concern that without a focus for hatred and distrust, a sense of national identity would evaporate, that the left side of the hyphen—african - american, mexican - american, irish - american—would overwhelm the right. what is the denotative meaning of fault lines in this excerpt? areas of defense in times of war lines that are drawn when placing blame long cracks in the surface of the earth breaks in modern american society

Explanation:

Denotative meaning is the literal or dictionary - defined meaning. "Fault lines" literally refer to long cracks in the surface of the earth. In the given context, it is used metaphorically, but the denotative meaning is the literal one.

Answer:

C. long cracks in the surface of the earth