MOD 1 QUESTIONS SET 14 1 of 41 of 4 Items
Assessment started: MOD 1 QUESTIONS SET 14.
Item 1
POSSIBLE POINTS: 10
Directions: Read the passage in which Josh describes his thoughts the day of his father’s funeral.

“Where Do We Go from Here?”
from The Crossover
by Kwame Alexander

There are no coaches
at funerals. No practice
to get ready. No warm-up.
There is no last-second shot, and
we all wear its cruel
midnight uniform, starless
and unfriendly.

I am unprepared
for death.
This is a game
I cannot play.
It has no rules,
no referees.
You cannot win.

I listen
to my father’s teammates
tell funny stories
about love
and basketball.
I hear the choir’s comfort songs.
They almost drown out Mom’s sobs.

She will not look in the coffin.
That is not my husband, she says.
Dad is gone,
like the end of a good song.
What remains is bone
and muscle and cold skin.
I grab Mom’s right hand.
JB grabs her left.
The preacher says,
A great father, son, and
husband has crossed
over. Amen.
Outside, a long charcoal limo
pulls up to the curb
to take us
back.

If only.

How does the repetition of the word no and the words cruel, starless, and unfriendly in the first stanza set the tone and meaning of the poem?