That the speaker “sympathized with’’ the drunk’s “obsession’’ (lines 16–17) is ironic chiefly because the drunk

It can be inferred that the speaker and the drunk were “fellow victims’’ (line 22) in that

In context, the word “intimate’’ (lines 24–25) is best interpreted to mean

The speaker mentions Beethoven’s Fifth and Macbeth (lines 27–28) as examples of which of the following?

The description of the “delicate balance’’ (line 41) achieved at jazz jam sessions contributes to the unity of the passage in which of the following ways?

According to the speaker, the jazz musicians that he knew as a boy attempted to do all of the following EXCEPT

The speaker’s attitude toward the jazz musicians is best described as one of

The speaker suggests that the jazz musicians to whom he refers accomplish which of the following by means of their art?

In the sentence beginning “There were times’’ (lines 58–63), the speaker employs all of the following EXCEPT

In the passage, the drunk, the jazz musicians, and the singer all share which of the following?

The style of the passage as a whole is most accurately characterized as