In this excerpt from a short story, a French soldier has
escaped from enemy captors to rejoin the French army.
1
2
from An Adventure
After walking for a long time in the sand... the
soldier was obliged to stop, as the day had already
come to an end. Despite the beauty of... [the] night,
with its exquisite sky, he felt that he could not,
though he fain would, continue on his weary way.
Fortunately he had come to a small eminence, on the
summit of which grew a few palm-trees whose
verdure shot into the air and could be seen from
afar; this had brought hope and consolation to his
heart....
His fatigue was so great that he threw himself
down on a block of granite, capriciously fashioned by
nature into the semblance of a camp-bed, and,
without taking any precaution for defense, was soon
fast in sleep. In the middle of the night his sleep was
disturbed by an extraordinary sound. He sat up; the
profound silence that reigned around enabled him to
distinguish the alternating rhythm of a respiration
whose savage energy it was Impossible could be that
of a human being.
Which detail from the passage most clearly develops the suspenseful point of
view?
1. "walking for a long time in the sand... the soldier was obliged to stop, as
the day had already come to an end" (Paragraph 1)
2. "on the summit of which grew a few palm-trees whose verdure shot into
the air and could be seen from afar" (Paragraph 1)
3. "he threw himself down... and, without taking any precaution for
defense, was soon fast in sleep" (Paragraph 2)
4. "the alternating rhythm of a respiration whose savage energy it was
impossible could be that of a human being" (Paragraph 2)