Question

The phrase ‘move but not maul’ refers to an army that would ________________.

a) move forward and never look back
b) defeat the White forces in the battlefield
c) make the White forces surrender by overpowering them
d) appeal to the conscience of the White Americans without hurting them

Answer 1

Hint: The phrase ‘move but not maul’ is suggestive of a more mild strategy.

Complete answer:

 A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. They are used to illustrate an idea that becomes clearer with the use of a metaphor. It helps to explain an idea or make a comparison.
From this information, we can infer that the phrase “move but not maul” is not used in a literal sense. However, if we understand the literal meaning, it will help us understand the message being given.
So, “move” means “to go forward” and “maul” means “to wound (a person or animal) by scratching and tearing”. So, the phrase in the literal sense is telling us to keep going forward without causing harm.

Now, let’s look at our given options:

move forward and never look back - The second part of this phrase does not fit into the given phrase. It has a different meaning. So, this is an incorrect option.
defeat the White forces in the battlefield - This phrase has a different meaning to the given phrase. So, this is an incorrect option.
make the White forces surrender by overpowering them - This also has a different meaning to the given phrase. So, this is incorrect.
d. appeal to the conscience of the White Americans without hurting them - This is the real-life interpretation of the given metaphor. So, this is the correct option.

Note: Figure out the literal meaning of the phrase to understand the correct meaning. Then, try to convert the literal meaning into a metaphor and try to match one of the options, which fits the most accurately, to it.