Finally i heard my mother’s name called; she rose and began weeping so copiously that she could not talk for a few moments; at last she managed to say that her husband had deserted her and her two children, that her children were hungry, that they stayed hungry, that she worked, that she was trying to raise them alone. then my father was called; he came forward jauntily, smiling. he tried to kiss my mother, but she turned away from him. i only heard one sentence of what he said. “i’m doing all i can, your honor,” he mumbled, grinning. it had been painful to sit and watch my mother crying and my father laughing and i was glad when we were outside in the sunny streets. wright uses this personal experience to establish his mother’s desperation. his mother’s weaknesses. his father’s good intentions. his father’s sense of humor.

The CORRECT answer is A) his mother’s desperation.

explanation:

the silver bells of the sleds are merry and keep time in the winter nights while the sky twinkles happily. the golden bells of weddings are delightful in their peaceful happiness, foretelling a rapturous future. meanwhile, the brazen alarm bells scream frightfully in the night, with a discordant and desperate sound. in their clamor, these bells convey terror, horror, and anger. finally, the iron bells are solemn and melancholy, while those in the church steeple are like ghouls who feel happiness. the king of the ghouls, who rings the bells, cheerfully keeps time with the moaning and groaning bells.

the correct answers are:

c. “never in the history of his people had a man married a woman who spoke a different tongue.”

d. “‘it has never been heard,’ was the verdict of an old man speaking a few weeks later.”

e. “this man had come with others to commiserate with okeke.”