Question

adapted from london excursion: bus by john gould fletcher
great walls of emerald,
city that is afar,
we gallop along,
alert and penetrating.
5 roads open about us,
housetops keep at a distance.
soft - curling tendrils,
swim backwards from our image
we are a red bulk
10 projecting the angular city in shadows at our feet.
black coarse - squared figures,
bump and growl and assemble;
it is the city that takes us to itself,
vast thunder riding down strange skies.
15 an arch under which we slide
divides our lives for us,
after we have passed it
we know we have left something behind
we shall not see again.
20 passivity,
gravity,
are changed into hesitating, clanking pistons and wheels.
the trams come whooping up one by one,
yellow pulse - beats spreading through darkness.
25 movie posters squall out,
the passengers shrivel together,
as i enter indelicately into their souls.
it is a glossy skating rink
on which winged spirals clasp and bend each other,
30 and suddenly slide backwards towards the center,
after a too - brief release.
a second arch is a wall
to separate our souls from disintegrating cables
of stale greenness.
35 a shadow cutting off the country from us,
out of it rise crimson walls,
yet i revolt;
i bend, i twist myself,
i curl into a million convolutions:
1 how does the author develop the theme of mans struggle to maintain individuality within modern society?
a. by describing the emptiness of the city that creates both distance and strangeness
b. by describing the arches of the city that both divide and unite the passengers
c. by describing the mechanical nature of the city and the desire to revolt against it
d. by describing the allure of the city and the passengers desire to become part of it

Explanation:

The poem describes the city in mechanical terms like "hesitating, clanking pistons and wheels" and the speaker's act of "revolt". This shows the mechanical nature of the city and the desire to break free, which relates to the struggle to maintain individuality. Options A and B do not directly address the struggle for individuality. Option D is about being part of the city rather than struggling against it.

Answer:

C. by describing the mechanical nature of the city and the desire to revolt against it