Read the excerpt from "the story of an hour." “go away. i am not making myself ill.” no; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window. her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. which is the correct definition of the word “elixir” based on its usage in the excerpt? sweet medicine bitter medicine tasteless medicine colorless medicine

The correct answer is sweet medicine.

The Story of an Hour, written by Kate Chopin, tells the story of a young woman who finds out that her husband is presumably dead. Unlike most women, she doesn't feel extreme sadness over the news - quite the contrary, she finally feels free from the constraints of her marriage.

She goes to her room and looks through an open window, drinking in a very elixir of life - this means that she enjoys the thought that she is no longer locked in a marriage, but rather can be true to herself. Unfortunately, her happiness is short-lived, as her husband comes home very much alive, and she dies of disappointment.

sentences vary by structure as well as by function. there are compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences.

simple sentence

i like to read.

a simple sentence has one independent clause.

compound sentence

i like to read, and i also like to write.

a compound sentence includes more than one independent clause, connected by a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, nor, or, so, or yet).

complex sentence

i prefer to read books that are bestsellers.

a complex sentence includes one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. (a dependent clause is one that cannot stand alone.) types of dependent clauses include relative clauses (i kicked the boy who pinched me), adverb clauses (i am going home now because i have a curfew), and noun clauses (i don't know what to do next).

compound-complex sentence

although i prefer to read current bestsellers, i do like to read old agatha christie mysteries, and i also like some 20th-century science fiction.

compound-complex sentences take a bunch of clauses (multiple independent clauses, and one or more dependent clauses) and toss them together like a salad. although these sentences take practice to write in a grammatically correct fashion, they can hold a tremendous amount of meaning, and are common in academic writing.