Question

10.1.2 exam: wrap-up
there where it is we do not need the wall:
he is all pine and i am apple orchard.
my apple trees will never get across
and eat the cones under his pines, i tell him.
he only says, \good fences make good neighbours.\
what effect does frosts use of figurative language have on the overall meaning of this excerpt?
○ a. the use of personification to bring the wall to life emphasizes that a larger wall is needed.
○ b. the use of personification to show the grazing apple trees emphasizes the necessity of the wall.
○ c. the metaphor comparing apple trees to pine trees emphasizes that the neighbors have different opinions.
○ d. the metaphor comparing apple trees to grazing animals emphasizes that the wall is unnecessary.

Explanation:

The speaker argues the wall is unnecessary by noting apple trees won’t "get across / And eat the cones"—a metaphor casting trees as grazing animals (which would need barriers). This figurative language highlights no actual threat exists, so the wall serves no practical purpose. Options A and B misstate the speaker’s stance (they oppose the wall), and C incorrectly frames tree differences as a metaphor for opinions (the metaphor here is about the wall’s uselessness, not differing views directly).

Answer:

D. The metaphor comparing apple trees to grazing animals emphasizes that the wall is unnecessary.