Part a: which option best captures a central theme of the passage?

a
having creative talent is more rewarding than merely being beautiful.
b
painting someone else is more rewarding than painting a self-portrait.
c
artists can be defensive of their work because they anticipate personal criticism.
d
artists can be protective of their work because of their personal investment into it.

Returning from vietnam, we were given a parade. crowds of screaming people waving signs — not just on one road, one day. no, they were everywhere. every day. on the streets, on the television, on the radio. a hot, angry tangle of shaking fists and ugly words that threatened us like a monster with a hundred heads. our country had chewed us up and spit us out, and now we were being treated as if it were our fault. which sentence best uses figurative language to match the paragraph's tone? a. our feet were frozen in place as the street itself strained to hold us back. b. i felt unappreciated and condemned for actions i had thought were heroic. c. i hadn't expected to find myself in a rags-to-riches situation such as this. d. we had come home to a feeding frenzy and were being treated as bait.