1. I sit on the bank in my special place,
2. Feel the breeze that lifts my hair,
3. And watch the ripples run across the river.
4. It is so peaceful here.
5. Deep enough to justify a fishing pole,
6. Quiet enough for my every thought,
7. The perfect place to contemplate
8. The world and my place in it.
9. Downstream, though, the river changes
10. From the one I know.
11. Its calm flow reaches rocky shallows
12. And starts to caper like a kitten
13. Darting and chasing shadows among the stones.
14. The river leaves the shallows at a run,
15. Rushing faster and faster--
16. A wildcat roaring past steep banks
17. And wild, wet rocks.
18. It claws and crashes in a furious flood,
19. Foaming and sptting as its fury is subdued
20. In the soothing depths of dark, still pools.
21. Tired and tamed by the journey,
22. The river transforms itself again.
23. Its power abates and it seems to move
24. With deliberation, slower and wiser,
25. Past towns that mark its passing and then
26. Go about their buisness.
27. One by one the towns pass by,
28. And the banks give way
29. To borders of salt-smelling mud marsh.
30. Without need for senseless shows od strength.
31. The river relaxes like an aging lion,
32. Done with the hunt and ready for rest.
33. The water slows until
34. A place not too different from mine,
35. Where the water stretches to meet the sky-
36. Where others just like me use mirrored steam
37. To fish and contemplate
38. The world and their place in it.
13: What is the best paraphrase of the final stanza?
A: The water slows until it reaches its destiny, a place not too different from mine, where the water stretches to meet the sky. Other people use it like a mirror. They fish and think here.
B: The water comes back to my special place. I watch people sit and fish and think about the world. They are just like me.
C: The water gets slower until it stops flowing. It ends at a place that looks like where I like to sit. I imagine people looking into the river like it is a mirror.****
D: The water gets slower until it gets to the ocean, which looks like the place I like to sit. People at this part of the river fish and think about the world here, just like I do.
No, not C. And not A either — too much quoting, not paraphrasing, in that one.
It must be D then right?
Where in the last stanza is the ocean mentioned, even by any of its synonyms?
it isn't
To determine the best paraphrase of the final stanza, we need to carefully analyze the stanza and understand its main ideas. Here's a step-by-step breakdown of the final stanza:
33: The water slows until
34: A place not too different from mine,
35: Where the water stretches to meet the sky-
36: Where others just like me use mirrored steam
37: To fish and contemplate
38: The world and their place in it.
Based on these lines, we can derive the following paraphrase options:
A: The water slows until it reaches its destiny, a place not too different from mine, where the water stretches to meet the sky. Other people use it like a mirror. They fish and think here.
B: The water comes back to my special place. I watch people sit and fish and think about the world. They are just like me.
C: The water gets slower until it stops flowing. It ends at a place that looks like where I like to sit. I imagine people looking into the river like it is a mirror.
D: The water gets slower until it gets to the ocean, which looks like the place I like to sit. People at this part of the river fish and think about the world here, just like I do.
Analyzing each option, we can eliminate Option D as it introduces the ocean, which is not mentioned in the stanza. Option B can also be eliminated as it deviates from the context of the stanza. Option A is a contender since it captures the main ideas of other people using the river as a mirror, fishing, and contemplating the world. However, Option C provides the most accurate paraphrase as it closely reflects the original lines and their context.
Therefore, the best paraphrase of the final stanza is Option C: The water gets slower until it stops flowing. It ends at a place that looks like where I like to sit. I imagine people looking into the river like it is a mirror.