Read the following excerpt from Frederick Douglass’s “Learning to Read and Write” and answer the question.

As I writhed under it, I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out. In moments of agony, I envied my fellow slaves for their stupidity. I have often wished myself a beast. I preferred the condition of the meanest reptile to my own.

Which word is closest in meaning to the word writhed in the excerpt above?

visualized
squirmed
agonized
wiggled

When we look up the definition for the verb "writhe" we see it's the act of squirming, twisting, or contorting one's body. From that definition alone, we could conclude that the best option is the second one, "squirmed".

Even though we wouldn't be incorrect from a literal point of view, the speaker is describing how much suffering has been brought upon him by learning how to read. He's agonizing now that he can understand more than his fellow slaves, now that he sees what they cannot see. His distress is so great that he envies irrational beings that live in ignorance. Thus, we may conclude that the best meaning for the word "writhed" as it is used in this excerpt is the third option, "agonized".