Question

the captain shrugged his shoulders. then well drop him over without any palaver, unless our clerical - looking cast - away has the burial service at sea by heart. (2) by this time he had swung fully around and was facing me. (3) youre a preacher, arent you? he asked. (4) the hunters, - there were six of them, - to a man, turned and regarded me. i was painfully aware of my likeness to a scarecrow. a laugh went up at my appearance, - a laugh that was not lessened or softened by the dead man stretched and grinning on the deck before us. (5) i told larsen that, unhappily for the burial service, i was not a preacher, when he sharply demanded: (6) what do you do for a living? (7) i confess i had never had such a question asked me before, nor had i ever canvassed it. i was quite taken aback, and before i could find myself i had stammered, i - i am a gentleman. (8) he lip - curled in a swift sneer. (9) i have worked, i do work, i cried impetuously, as though he were my judge and i required vindication, and at the same time very much aware of my arrant idiocy in discussing the subject at all. (10) for your living? (11) there was something so imperative and masterful about him that i was quite beside myself - rattled, as furness would have termed it, like a quaking child before a stern school - master. (12) who leads you? was his next question. which quotation from the excerpt most clearly helps to build tension by portraying an external conflict? a. the hunters, - there were six of them, - to a man, turned and regarded me. (paragraph 4) b. i was painfully aware of my likeness to a scarecrow. (paragraph 4) c. a laugh went up at my appearance, - a laugh that was not lessened or softened by the dead man stretched and grinning on the deck before us... (paragraph 4) d. i told larsen that, unhappily for the burial service, i was not a preacher, (paragraph 5)

Explanation:

Tension is often built through descriptions of conflict, discomfort, or unease. Option A shows the narrator being regarded by the hunters in a way that makes them painfully aware of their likeness to a scarecrow, creating an uncomfortable and tense situation. Options B - D do not convey the same level of interpersonal or emotional conflict that builds tension as effectively.

Answer:

A. The hunters, - there were six of them, - to a man, turned and regarded me. (paragraph 4)