Question

questions 10 through 14 refer to the following.
analysis of “i ask my mother to sing.”
(1) in li-young lee’s poem “i ask my mother to sing,” the speaker describes a song that his mother and grandmother sing. (2) though it is never stated in the poem, it is implied that the speaker’s mother and grandmother are from china. (3) the speaker acknowledges that he has “never been to peking,” the place where these landmarks are located, but his own lack of familiarity with peking does not hinder his ability to connect emotionally to the song. (4) by relating the song and its resonance with him, the speaker honors his family and their homeland.
(5) the poem’s title reveals that the speaker has asked his mother to sing to him, and the “i” in the title suggest that the speaker could be li-young. (6) the poem begins with the mother fulfilling that wish, and the grandmother joins in, as the women “sing like young girls.” (7) the speaker imagines how his father, who is no longer living, would join in on “his accordion and sway like a boat.” (8) the memory of the speaker’s father suggests that the song has bound the family together through many repetitions.
(9) in the poem, the speaker describes the song’s setting of a rainy day at the summer palace, “how the waterlilies fill with rain until / they overturn, spilling water into water / then rock back, and fill with more.” (10) the rain mirrors the speaker’s realization that his mother
the writer is considering deleting sentence 7. should the sentence be kept or deleted?
a kept, because it supports the statement made at the beginning of the paragraph about the song.
b kept, because it provides necessary context for the description of the speaker’s memory in the next sentence.
c deleted, because it interrupts the description of the mother and grandmother singing.
d deleted, because it shifts the focus away from the speaker’s relationship with his mother and grandmother.

Explanation:

To determine if sentence 7 should be kept or deleted, we analyze the context. Sentence 6 describes the mother and grandmother singing. Sentence 7 introduces the speaker's father (who is deceased) joining in with an accordion. Sentence 8 then connects the father's memory to the song binding the family. So sentence 7 provides context for sentence 8's description of the speaker's memory (about the father) and is necessary to show how the song involves the whole family (including the father), which supports the overall theme of family bonding through the song. Option B says it provides necessary context for the description of the speaker’s memory in the next sentence, which matches. Option A is incorrect as the beginning of the paragraph (sentence 5 - 6) is about the mother/grandmother singing and the title, not directly about the song's statement that sentence 7 would support. Option C is wrong because sentence 7 doesn't interrupt the mother/grandmother singing description; it expands to the father, which is relevant. Option D is incorrect as the father is part of the family, and including him doesn't shift focus away from the speaker's relationship with mother/grandmother (it shows the family bond including the father).

Answer:

B. Kept, because it provides necessary context for the description of the speaker’s memory in the next sentence.