Read the following passage from an analysis essay's body: Both Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Herman Melville's Moby-D share important traits of Gothic literature. In Moby-D, Melville uses the color white to represent grotesqueness, saying that it "peculiarly repels and often shocks the eye" (211). Hawthorne similarly relies on color to convey meaning, drawing particular emphasis to the scarlet in the "A" that Hester Prynne must wear. What is the primary weakness of this passage? A. No evidence is given from either novel. B. The evidence is not clearly tied to the claim. C. Color is an inappropriate topic for analysis. D. The passage fails to make a debatable claim.

D). The passage fails to make a debatable claim.

Explanation:

The key weakness of the given passage is that 'it fails to establish a debatable claim.' A claim is characterized as debatable when the readers could reasonably argue on different opinions regarding it but here the 'claim regarding the presence of gothic elements' in Hawthorne's 'Scarlett Letter' and Herman Melville's 'Moby-D' is already agreed upon and accepted as a fact. Thus, there remains no point in persuading the readers' to believe in it by comparing the two. Another weakness of this passage is that the evidence presented here fails to support the claim. Thus, option D is the correct answer.

Phillis Wheatley's poem 'To His Excellency General Washington' has a central theme of 'freedom's cause.' In the poem, Wheatley explains the struggles that the colonists had with pursuing freedom from England, which caused a civil war. Wheatley uses the term 'Columbia' to refer to America, represented the country as in the right for taking a stance against England. Wheatley uses the 'Celestial Choir' as a poetical type muse, which inspired her writing. Wheatley also has a description of the 'goddess of Freedom.' The goddess comes down from heaven in order to involve herself in the civil war between the colonists and Britain. The reference to 'olive branch' in the poem represents a symbol of peace.  Wheatley compares the battle forces of America to the Greek forces of Eolus, king of the winds. The simile Wheatley uses prepares the reader for the references to any military language that she used poetically such as, 'first in peace', to refer to Washington as the commander-in-chief of the army. By the end of the poem, Wheatley urges Washington to continue pursuing freedom for the colonists. She refers to the goddess of freedom as a guide for Washington. By the end, Wheatley believes that Washington will win and become the head of state. Themes of 'To His Excellency General Washington' include divine right and freedom.