I lived in the first century of world wars.

I lived in the first century of these wars.

These words are the first and last lines of the poem. What is the best explanation of why Rukeyser repeats them?

to highlight her wish to become a soldierto emphasize the idea that war is violentto remind the reader that war is unavoidable to hope that world wars will come to an end

Question

Pierre Barnett

English

18 April, 02:36

I lived in the first century of world wars.

I lived in the first century of these wars.

These words are the first and last lines of the poem. What is the best explanation of why Rukeyser repeats them?

to highlight her wish to become a soldierto emphasize the idea that war is violentto remind the reader that war is unavoidable to hope that world wars will come to an end

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Answers (1)

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Taylor Hanson · Answer 1

First eliminate the options that really do not hold any validity. Nowhere in the poem does the speaker mention a desire to become a solider, take up arms, defend her country ... so option 1 is out. Also, there isn't any mention of violence. The author's choice of the word "first" in this line gives the reader the feeling that there will be a "second". This makes option 3 "war is unavoidable" the best option.