1. Which statement expresses the theme of the story?

A Adults have a hard time understanding what kids find

important.

B Expressing yourself through art is the best way to

heal from a tragedy.

C Ruining someone else's hard work is never the way to

resolve a conflict.

D Don't judge people or assume to understand them

before you get to know them.

I've found this question online. It is about the short story "The War of the Wall", by Toni Cade Bambara.

Answer:

The statement that expresses the theme of the story is:

D. Don't judge people or assume to understand them before you get to know them.

Explanation:

In the story, the narrator is a teenager who, from the very beginning, dislikes a painter lady from the North. It turns out this woman is painting her art over a wall that, according to the narrator, belongs to the kids of Taliaferro Street. Also, the narrator and her cousin, Lou, inscribed a certain name on the wall: Jimmy Lyons. Jimmy was killed in the war, so the kids thought it would be nice to honor him that way. As if that wasn't enough, the painter lady has a different religion and different eating habits than everyone else in town.

It is only at the end of the story that the narrator finds out the painter lady is not disrespecting the wall or Jimmy Lyons at all. She is painting to honor him:

The painter lady had found the chisel marks and had painted Jimmy Lyon's name in a rainbow.

[ ... ]

To the People of Taliaferro Street

I Dedicate This Wall of Respect

Painted in Memory of My Cousin

Jimmy Lyons

The theme of the story concerns judging people too soon, before one has had the opportunity to really know them. The narrator did not try to get to know or understand the painter lady. She judged her by her different habits, attitudes, and behavior. She found her disrespectful when that was not the lady's intention at all.