Using our prior knowledge and context clues, what do you think preserved means in this passage from "American Gothic"?

" ... and a smokehouse/where a ham in hickory/is also being preserved"

to make lasting

quiet or sedate in demeanor

halted or stopped

a reference to something else that the reader is assumed to be familiar with

Question

Athena Drake

English

13 July, 15:48

Using our prior knowledge and context clues, what do you think preserved means in this passage from "American Gothic"?

" ... and a smokehouse/where a ham in hickory/is also being preserved"

to make lasting

quiet or sedate in demeanor

halted or stopped

a reference to something else that the reader is assumed to be familiar with

+1

Answers (1)

Know the Answer?

Timothy Gallagher · Answer 1

to make lasting

The act of smoking a ham to preserve it means that they are trying to make the meat good for storage for a long time. So in this context 'preserved' refers to the attempt to make something lasting. Presumably, since it's a full smokehouse, the ham is just one thing of many that they are trying to preserve.