Question

Why, according to the poet, has pity become a necessity?

• A. lure
• B. temptation
• C. deterrent
• D. ostentatious

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Analyzing the Opening Lines of the Extract:
The poem opens with: “Pity would be no more If we did not make somebody Poor.”

Step 2: Identifying the Causal Relationship:
William Blake argues that pity is not an independent, pure virtue. It only exists because society actively creates victims by exploiting others and making them poor.

Step 3: Explaining the 'Necessity':
Therefore, pity has become a social necessity only because systemic inequalities and poverty exist to provoke that emotional response.

Answer 2

Step 1: Examining the Relevant Lines:
Blake writes: “And Mercy no more could be If all were as happy as we.”

Step 2: Logical Analysis of 'Mercy':
Mercy requires an unequal relationship where one party has power and the other is suffering or in distress.

Step 3: Formulating the Condition:
According to the poet, if all members of society were equally happy, secure, and prosperous, there would be no suffering left to trigger or require the exercise of mercy.

Answer 3

Step 1: Locating the Verse Reference for 'Peace':
The text states: “And mutual fear brings peace, Till the selfish loves increase...”

Step 2: Analyzing the Nature of 'Mutual Fear':
The poem suggests that peace is often built on mutual fear—a tense balance of power or deterrence—rather than on genuine unity or love.

Step 3: Identifying the Limit of Peace:
Therefore, this fragile peace can only exist until individual greed and selfish interests (“selfish loves”) grow and disrupt the balance, leading to conflict.

Answer 4

Step 1: Decoding the Metaphor of Personification:
Cruelty is personified as a hunter or trapper who actively builds traps to catch prey.

Step 2: Defining 'Knits a Snare' and 'Baits':
To “knit a snare” means to craft deceptive social systems and rules, while to “spread baits” means using false kindness, superficial charity, or performative pity to trick and exploit the vulnerable.

Step 3: Interpreting the Deep Meaning:
This means that cruelty does not always appear openly; it often hides behind a mask of care and false piety to manipulate people.

Answer 5

Step 1: Exploring Blake's Satirical View in the Poem:
Blake describes a false humility that grows from “holy fears” and is watered by “tears” of deceit (“He sits down with holy fears, And waters the ground with tears; Then Humility takes its root”).

Step 2: Formulating the Analytical Argument:
No, we do not agree with this statement as an absolute truth. While fear and sorrow can break a person's pride, Blake shows that this kind of humility is often false and performative. True humility comes from self-awareness, empathy, and respect for others, rather than from fear or self-pity.

Step 3: Concluding the Interpretation:
Therefore, while fears and tears can force a person to act humble, genuine humility must come from an inner sense of empathy and connection with others.

Answer 6

Step 1: Defining the Target Word 'Bait':
A “bait” is something used to entice, attract, or tempt a person or animal to do something.

Step 2: Evaluating the Options:

• Lure is a direct synonym, meaning something that attracts.
• Temptation is also a synonym, referring to an enticement.
• Deterrent refers to something that discourages or prevents action (the exact opposite of an enticement).
• Ostentatious is an adjective meaning vulgar or pretentious display, which is semantically unrelated.

Step 3: Concluding the Antonym:
Therefore, “deterrent” is the correct and precise antonym for bait.