Question

unit 1: claims and evidence - reading quiz
i spent my teens and much of my twenties collecting printed rejections. early on, my
mother lost $61.20 - a reading fee charged by a so - called agent to look at one of my
unpublished stories. no one had told us that agents werent supposed to get any money up
front, werent supposed to be paid until they sold your work. then they were to take ten
percent of whatever the work earned. ignorance is expensive. that $61.20 was more money
back then than my mother paid for a months rent.
i badgered friends and acquaintances into reading my work, and they seemed to like it.
teachers read it and said kindly, unhelpful things. but there were no creative writing classes
at my high school, and no useful criticism. at college (in california at that time, junior
college was almost free), i took classes taught by an elderly woman who wrote childrens
stories. she was polite about the science fiction and fantasy that i kept handing in, but she
finally asked in exasperation, \cant you write anything normal?\
a schoolwide contest was held. all submissions had to be made anonymously. my short
story won first prize. i was an eighteen - year - old freshman, and i won in spite of competition
from older, more experienced people. beautiful. the $15.00 prize was the first money my
writing earned me.
after college i did office work for a while, then factory and warehouse work. my size and
strength were advantages in factories and warehouses. and no one expected me to smile
and pretend i was having a good time.
i got up at two or three in the morning and wrote. then i went to work. i hated it, and i have
no gift for suffering in silence. i muttered and complained and quit jobs and found new ones
and collected more rejection slips. one day in disgust i threw them all away. why keep such
useless, painful things?
there seems to be an unwritten rule, hurtful and at odds with the realities of american
culture. it says you arent supposed to wonder whether as a black person, a black woman,
you really might be inferior - not quite bright enough, not quite quick enough, not quite good
enough to do the things you want to do. though of course you do wonder. youre supposed
to know youre as good as anyone. and if you dont know, you arent supposed to admit it. if
you ever do admit it youre supposed to recover from it quickly or theyll shut you. that
in the fifth paragraph, the author mentions that she \got up at two or three in the morning and
wrote\ primarily to
a demonstrate the intensity of her devotion to writing
b emphasize that punctuality is necessary for writers
c break her silence about a painful period in her life
d show how financial insecurity can limit a writers career

Explanation:

The author's action of getting up at an unusual hour (two or three in the morning) to write shows a strong commitment. It's not about punctuality (B - writing at odd hours isn't about being on - time in a traditional sense), not about breaking a silence about a painful period (C - no indication of a'silence' being broken in this context), and not about financial insecurity limiting a career (D - the text focuses on her writing effort, not financial limits). Demonstrating intensity of devotion (A) makes sense as it highlights her dedication to writing despite having other work.

Answer:

A. demonstrate the intensity of her devotion to writing