Question

burning a book
william stafford • 1986
william stafford (1914 - 1993) was an american poet. in 1970, he was named consultant in poetry to the library of congress, a position now known as poet laureate. in this poem, the speaker describes book burning, a common method of censorship in which people set fire to books they object to on political, cultural, or religious grounds. in a 1991 interview, stafford once said that he wrote this poem after purposefully burning a book that he found \attractive, shallow, and misleading...\ \why should i keep it around?\ he thought.
as you read, identify the main idea of each stanza.
1
protecting each other, right in the center
a few pages glow a long time.
the cover goes first, then outer leaves
curling away, then spine and a scattering.

question 2 of 2
according to the speaker, what is more disturbing than book burning?
a empty libraries that towns cannot afford to fill
b wild dogs that keep people from learning
c not bothering to write certain books at all
d people who hate reading books

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze the poem's context. The poem "Burning a Book" by William Stafford deals with the implications of book burning. Book burning is often done to suppress ideas, and the option about "not bothering to write certain books at all" (option C) relates to the idea of self - censorship or the act of not creating books that might be targeted, which is more disturbing as it's a form of internalized suppression compared to the other options. Option A is about empty libraries (a result of book burning but not more disturbing), option B is about wild dogs (not related to the core of book burning's disturbance), and option D is about people who hate reading (not the main disturbing aspect of book burning).

Answer:

C. not bothering to write certain books at all