The English Concentration 
in the Liberal Studies Degree 

INTERPRETATION––In two concise yet detailed and well organized paragraphs, interpret the following passage, explaining 

• the theme/purpose of the work that the quote comes from in its historical context 
• and what the passage means (interpret the important symbols, images, or references).  

"On that loveliest autumn morning, the swollen tide had spread over all the russet levels, and gleamed in the sunlight a mile away.  As the contributor moved onward down the street, luminous on either hand with crimsoning and yellowing maples, he was so filled with the tender serenity of the scene, as not to be troubled by the spectacle of small Irish houses standing miserably about on the flats ankle deep, as it were, in little pools of the tide . . . ."