Question

What does the author talk about doing in the poem “Birthright” and what is the mood of the poem?

We talked once of driving all the remote gravel roads,
writing from here and there, a little like Hugo, though
neither of us had read his poems yet. Today I am
wondering about those unwritten drafts. Could they
have predicted the severity of this drought, would
they have spoken to our own landscape, one of anger,
sympathy and remorse: You, the eventual heir to your
family’s homestead; and me, an Indian woman who
leases her land to white men made up of the same
storm and grit and hunger as your grandfather. What
if we had found a message in verse written from
some small town? — abandon this place. Would we
have listened and turned the car east or south and
left behind the land our families have lived on for
generations? But where could we travel and not long
for the ache of wind blowing over open land? And
how long could we have held ourselves back, away
from our need to feel claimed by a place we can only,
with our limited tongue, call home.

A. She discusses driving all the remote gravel roads and the mood is happy


B. She discusses driving all the remote gravel roads and the mood is thoughtful


C. She discusses taking over the family business and the mood is dark


D. She discusses taking over the family business and the mood is thoughtful

Answer 1

The correct answer to what the author is talking about doing in the poem “Birthright” and what the mood of the poem is would be B. She discusses driving all the remote gravel roads and the mood is thoughtful.

When the author says that "We talked once of driving all the remote gravel roads, writing from here and there", "Today I am wondering about those unwritten drafts" and "But where could we travel and not long for the ache of wind blowing over open land?", she conveys that she wishes to drive all the remote gravel roads, exploring new places and experiences. Yet, the mood in her poem is thoughtful, because she talks about her family, her homeland and her ancestors. "You, the eventual heir to your family’s homestead; and me, an Indian woman who leases her land to white men made up of the same storm and grit and hunger as your grandfather", she says, moreover "Would we have listened and turned the far east or south and left behind the land our families have lived on for generations?", expressing her absorbing thoughts and also showing consideration for her hometown and family. Therefore, the correct answer is B. She discusses driving all the remote gravel roads and the mood is thoughtful.

The correct answer couldn't be A. She discusses driving all the remote gravel roads and the mood is happy because her mood is not happy. When she says "Could they have predicted the severity of this drought, would they have spoken to our own landscape, one of anger, sympathy and remorse", the author shows that she is reflecting about deep and difficult things, thus, her mood is not really happy. Therefore, the correct answer couldn't be A. She discusses driving all the remote gravel roads and the mood is happy.

The correct answer couldn't be C. She discusses taking over the family business and the mood is dark because she doesn't discuss taking over the family business in any part of the poem. On the contrary, she says that she should "abandon this place". Hence, the correct answer couldn't be C. She discusses taking over the family business and the mood is dark.

The correct answer couldn't be D. She discusses taking over the family business and the mood is thoughtful, because of the same explanation given previously; the author doesn't discuss taking over the family business, on the contrary. So, the correct answer couldn't be D. She discusses taking over the family business and the mood is thoughtful.