Read the excerpt from "a quilt of a country." what is the point of this splintered whole? what is the point of a nation in which arab cabbies chauffeur jewish passengers through the streets of new york—and in which jewish cabbies chauffeur arab passengers, too, and yet speak in theory of hatred, one for the other? in this excerpt, the use of the word splintered has a what connotation?

negative

The word splintered has a negative connotation. The phrase "splintered whole" is an oxymoron. A thing that is splintered cannot be whole, and yet in this case it is. Historically the Arab and Jewish people have hated each other. Their beliefs leading them to many violent conflicts. The word splintered refers to this hatred between the two groups, thus giving it a negative connotation. The whole refers to how these people can coexist and, in a way, rely on one another despite their theoretical hatred.

unrelated sentences to be eliminated?