Sentence:  There is evidence to suggest , in fact , that many authors of the humorous sketches were prompted to write them - or to make them as indelicate as they <WSD>are</WSD> - by way of protesting against the artificial refinements which had come to dominate the polite letters of the South . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)