The following text is from Herman Melville’s 1854 novel The Lightning-rod Man.
The stranger still stood in the exact middle of the cottage, where he had first planted himself. His singularity impelled a closer scrutiny. A lean, gloomy figure. Hair dark and lank, mattedly streaked over his brow. His sunken pitfalls of eyes were ringed by indigo halos, and played with an innocuous sort of lightning: the gleam without the bolt. The whole man was dripping. He stood in a puddle on the bare oak floor: his strange walking-stick vertically resting at his side.
Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text?
Correct answer: D
Explanation
Choice D is the best answer. This best states the function of the underlined sentence. The sentence basically says: “He stood out, so I looked more closely at him.” Then the rest of the text describes him in detail.
Choice A is incorrect. This doesn’t state the function of the underlined sentence. The previous sentence basically says: “He was still standing in the middle of the cottage”—it doesn’t include any description of the character himself. Choice B is incorrect. This doesn’t state the function of the underlined sentence. The following sentences describe the character, not the setting. Choice C is incorrect. This doesn’t state the function of the underlined sentence. The underlined sentence basically says: “He stood out, so I looked more closely at him.” The previous sentence basically says: “He was still standing in the middle of the cottage.” There’s no contrast between these two sentences.
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