Question

Read the passage: I’ve known rivers: I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. Identify the allusion. Then identify the effect of that allusion.

a.The speaker alludes to rivers from his childhood; the effect is that the rivers are part of the collective voice.

b.The speaker alludes to rivers from his childhood; the effect is that the reader understands that the rivers were created by African Americans.

c.The speaker alludes to rivers as old as civilization itself; the reader recognizes that the poet is intelligent.

d.The speaker alludes to rivers as old as civilization itself; the poet shows how the survival of his people is like the long life of the rivers.

Answer 1

"The Negro Speaks of River's," They asked me this question in my class a few weeks back. I don't remember much but I do think the answer was D

Answer 2

You can eliminate choices a and b because the passage states, "rivers [as] ancient as the world." It is comparing rivers to the world, not childhood.
You can rule out choice c. because the passage does not really make the poet intelligent.
Choice d. is correct because the speaker compares the rivers to how old the world is. Also, he mentions "human blood in human veins." Blood and veins represent the survival of people.