Mr. shiftlet was so shocked that for about a hundred feet he drove along slowly with the door stiff open. a cloud, the exact color of the boy’s hat and shaped like a turnip, had descended over the sun, and another, worse looking, crouched behind the car. mr. shiftlet felt that the rottenness of the world was about to engulf him. he raised his arm and let it fall again to his breast. “oh lord! ” he prayed. “break forth and wash the slime from this earth! ”
which best describes the irony of the excerpt?
a) mr. shiftlet has just deceived an old woman for personal gain, and yet he does not think he’s part of the “rottenness of the world.”
b) mr. shiftlet should never have given a ride to the young boy, who clearly was up to no good and should have been at home with his loving mother.
c) mr. shiftlet observes that the color of the cloud is the same as the boy’s hat, a grim reminder that the boy is part of a rotten world.
d) mr. shiftlet is unable to close the door of his car, which essentially forces him to invite the evilness of the world into his car.

A) Mr. Shiftlet has just deceived an old woman for personal gain, and yet he does not think he’s part of the “rottenness of the world.”

In this story, Mr. Shiftlet is a man who has just married Lucynell. The girl is deaf and mute, and as her mother was desperate to marry her off, she offers money to Mr. Shiftlet in exchange for marriage. He does marry her, but while on their honeymoon, he abandons her at a diner. As he is driving away, he utters these words. It is ironic that he asks for protection from the rotness of the world when he is clearly part of the problem.

1.creeping like a snail is a simile used in this poem and it means the child is going to school unwillingly./a child is unwilling to go to school.

2. man becomes very frail and loses his physical strength when he becomes old, so much that his leggings that used to fit him snugly when he was in his youth are now too loose for him to wear, and that his shank has shrunk so much that this worldly stage is too big for a feeble actor like him. although, 'his youthful hose' just refers to his leggings/pants/ to shrink from danger; to shrink from contact.

3.the words "sans" means "without." it is a french word that is often used in english even today. so he is saying that in the last age of a man, the man is without eyes, taste, or anything else. he also says that this is the "last stage of all" and that it is the stage that ends a man's "history."

hope this !

explanation: use this website and look at the examples to form your own poem : )