11 commonlit
text-dependent questions
directions: for the following questions, choose the best answer or respond in complete sentences.
1.
part a: which of the following best summarizes the theme of this poem?
[rl.2]
a. ignorance and a lack of new ideas are greater threats to society than burning
books.
book burning creates ignorance and chaos in societies; free speech should be
encouraged.
the worst threat of censorship is its ability to erase prominent writers from
history.
we are all guilty of censorship when we reject ideas that do not align with our
own.

The worst threat of censorship is its ability to erase prominent writers from  history.

Explanation:

Book burning represents a form of censorship. It was used to fight political religious and other opponents. In this poem, the author suggests what might be the consequences of these actions.

More disturbing than book ashes are whole libraries that no one got around to writing—desolate towns

These lines in the poem suggest that book burning deprives libraries of material as well as it prevents writers from writing!

If a book isn’t written, no one needs to burn it

And there are many I haven’t even written, and nobody has.

These two lines illustrate possible attitudes of certain writers: their books cannot be burned if they do not write them and this way the poem goes to show the serious consequences censorship could have.