Question

the reward of enterprise
by ward muir
it was overwhelming. never in all my life have i attained
to a rapture comparable with that bathe in mid-atlantic. i
knew, even at the time, that it would be unforgettable. i
had aspired to be able to say that i had swum in water
three miles deep... oh, never mind what vain boast i
had promised myself. boasting was forgotten. i was
experiencing. i was surrendered to an ecstasy, an
enchantment, a glee, beyond expression grandiose and
delicious. i lolled in the pellucid water, not troubling to
swim. i let myself go, in those dizzy soaring and
sinkings; i abandoned myself to this vast and beautiful
force; i felt at once infinitely little and infinitely great.
use the passage from \the reward of enterprise
to answer the question.
how do the words rapture and ecstasy affect the
tone of the story?
(1 point)
they suggest the narrators acceptance of the
situation in which he finds himself.
they provide a contrast that shows how the
narrators mood changes over time.
they show that the narrator is experiencing
great pleasure throughout the passage.
they indicate the narrators uncertainty about
his choice to go swimming.

Explanation:

The words "rapture" and "ecstasy" are positive - connoted terms. "Rapture" means a feeling of intense pleasure or joy, and "ecstasy" means an overwhelming feeling of great happiness or joyful excitement. In the passage, the narrator uses these words to describe his experience of bathing in the mid - Atlantic. There is no indication of acceptance (no prior resistance shown), no contrast (the mood seems consistently positive), and no uncertainty (the narrator is fully immersed in the experience). The overall tone is one of great pleasure as he "was surrendered to an ecstasy...beyond expression grandiose and delicious".

Answer:

They show that the narrator is experiencing great pleasure throughout the passage.