Question

1. what are the townspeople’s first impressions of the old man? how do they interpret his appearance? cite specific evidence from the text to support your answer.

a. the old man arrives bald and nearly toothless, and his “huge buzzard wings” are “dirty and half - plucked.” then he loses most of his feathers and becomes ill. at the end, his wings regrow “large, stiff” feathers” that allow him to fly away.
b. pelayo and elisenda overlook the “inconvenience of the wings” to decide the man is a sailor. the neighbor sees his wings and thinks he is an angel of death. the priest is suspicious because the so - called angel appears to be “much too human.”
c. i think this word means “acts of rudeness or disrespect.” the word refers to the townspeople’s actions toward the angel, including housing him in a chicken coop and throwing “fruit peels and breakfast leftovers” at him, so the word is a noun. when i look up the word in a dictionary, i see that my definition works.
d. the people feed the spider - woman and are moved by her story. they treat the man like a caged animal but are kind to the spider - woman because her story is “full of so much human truth” and reflects “a fearful lesson” they can relate to.
e. i think this word means “the quality of being cautious or careful.” my conclusion is based on the priest’s actions: he suspects that the old man is the devil. he warns people not to be “ingenuous.” he writes to his bishop for a verdict.

Explanation:

The question asks about the townspeople's first - impressions of the old man and their interpretation of his appearance. Option B correctly addresses this by stating different individuals' views such as Pelayo and Elisenda thinking he is a sailor, the neighbor seeing him as an angel of death, and the priest being suspicious due to his human - like appearance.

Answer:

B. Pelayo and Elisenda overlook the "inconvenience of the wings" to decide the man is a sailor. The neighbor sees his wings and thinks he is an angel of death. The priest is suspicious because the so - called angel appears to be "much too human."