Problem
"Why? They will give all their time and energy to the school."
Nancy was downcast. For a few minutes she became skeptical about the new school; but it was only for a few minutes. Her little personal misfortune could not blind her to her husband's happy prospects. She looked at him as he sat folded up in a chair. He was stoop¬shouldered and looked frail. But he sometimes surprised people with sudden bursts of physical energy. In his pre¬ sent posture, however, all his bodily strength seemed to have retired behind his deep¬set eyes, giving them an extraordinary power of penetration. He was only twenty¬six, but looked thirty or more. On the whole, he was not unhand some.
"A penny for your thoughts, Mike," said Nancy after a while, imitating the woman's magazine she read.
"I was thinking what a grand opportunity we've got at last to show these people how a school should be run."
This passage is from China Achebe's dead mens path.
Select one of the elements you have located which will best help you answer the following question:
1) How does one literary element contribute to the meaning of the passage and the text as a whole?
2) For example, is there a particular use of symbolism in the passage which is meaningful in this story?
3) Is there something significant about the setting in your chosen passage?
4) Is there something important about the use of diction here?