The Empty Corridor and the Paper Sun
Read this six-line poem, then answer. 'The notice board wears a paper sun; / the corridor is empty, swept; / a chair is stacked; the bell has run / its last flat note. The year has kept / one drawing pinned-a house, a tree, / a stick figure waving back at me.' In a 6-minute reading test, the question asks: 'What is the tone of the last two lines?' Two answers are offered. A: 'The tone is nostalgic and tender.' B: 'The tone is bitter and accusatory.' The instruction says: 'Support your answer with two words or phrases from the poem and explain what they suggest.' You notice that B's supporter points to 'empty' and 'last' as evidence. You must decide which answer the words actually support and explain why the other reading overreaches.
1. Choose A or B and justify with two textual details. Explain why the evidence B cites does not prove bitterness.
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Choose A: nostalgic and tender.
- 'one drawing pinned' suggests that something has been deliberately kept rather than thrown away; the word 'kept' in the previous line reinforces preservation.
- 'a stick figure waving back at me' personifies the drawing as a friendly greeting. The wave is affectionate, not hostile.
Why B's evidence is insufficient: 'empty' and 'last' establish absence and ending. Absence can produce melancholy, but bitterness requires resentment or blame, and the poem supplies no word of accusation. B's supporter is turning a quiet ending into a grievance. The test is whether the words require the emotion; here they do not.
2. What does 'the notice board wears a paper sun' suggest? Answer in one or two sentences, using the word 'personification' correctly.
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The line uses personification: it gives the notice board the human act of 'wearing' something. The 'paper sun' is a child's drawing pinned to the board, so the board is decorated with children's work, and 'wears' suggests the school displays it with a kind of pride. It is not a literal sun; the metaphor makes the decoration feel like an item of clothing the board has put on.
3. The word 'flat' in 'its last flat note' can be read musically and emotionally. Explain how both readings support the poem's ending.
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Musically, a flat note is slightly lower than the true pitch, so the bell's final sound is diminished or slightly 'off'. That fits the end of a school year: the familiar sound is not quite itself.
Emotionally, 'flat' means without energy or lift, so the last bell has lost its usual liveliness. Both readings point to the same effect: the corridor is emptied, the year is closing, and the remaining drawing becomes more precious because everything else has gone still. The double meaning is useful in a tone question because it supports quiet nostalgia rather than bitterness.