Explanation
Correct answer: C.
Choice C is the best answer because it most logically completes the text’s discussion of novelist Leon Forrest’s admiration of William Faulkner’s writing style. In this context, "imitation" means something that resembles or reproduces something else. The text states that Forrest admired Faulkner’s style and that anyone familiar with Faulkner’s style would be able to see the stylistic similarities between a particular passage in Forrest’s novel Divine Days and Faulkner’s writing, a fact that supports the idea that Forrest’s novel pays tribute to Faulkner by reproducing, or imitating, Faulkner’s style.
Why the other choices are wrong
Choice A
Choice A is incorrect because in this context, a "forgetting" would mean an instance in which something is overlooked or not remembered. The text emphasizes Forrest’s admiration for Faulkner’s style and the fact that Forrest’s writing in some instances closely resembles Faulkner’s stylistically. It therefore wouldn’t make sense to say that in trying to pay tribute to Faulkner’s style, Forrest failed to remember it.
Choice B
Choice B is incorrect because in this context, a "rejection" would mean a dismissal of something as unworthy. The text emphasizes Forrest’s admiration for Faulkner’s writing style, stating that parts of Forrest’s writings indicate efforts to copy that style. It wouldn’t make sense therefore to suggest that Forrest had rejected or dismissed Faulkner’s style as unworthy.
Choice D
Choice D is incorrect because in this context, an "opinion" would mean a view or judgment. Although the text focuses on Forrest’s admiration of Faulkner, which suggests that Forrest had formed a positive judgment of Faulkner’s style, the word opinion wouldn’t make sense in this sentence: the sentence doesn’t say that the passage from Forrest’s novel expresses his view of Faulkner’s style; rather, it suggests that stylistically, the passage closely resembles, or imitates, Faulkner’s writing.