Heritage and Multicultural American Identities — Test
Question 22 • TPS EdX English Language Arts 11
Read the excerpt from Cristina Garcia’s Dreaming in Cuban . I was only two years old when I left Cuba but I remember everything that’s happened to me since I was a baby, even word-for-word conversations. I was sitting in my grandmother’s lap, playing with her drop pearl earrings, when my mother told her we were leaving the country. Abuela Celia called her a traitor to the revolution. Mom tried to pull me away but I clung to the Abuela and screamed at the top of my lungs. My grandfather came running and said, “Celia, let the girl go. She belongs with Lourdes.” This was the last time I saw her. How does the structure of the excerpt add meaning to the passage?
Answer
A
It introduces several of the narrators who will share their points of view.
B
It provides characterization for Celia as it reveals her physical appearance.
C
It includes dialogue to indicate that the characters in the nonfiction account are real people.
D
It manipulates the chronological order of events to reveal the difficult relationship between Lourdes and Celia.
Explanation
The excerpt begins with the narrator reflecting on what she remembers, then recounts the moment her family left Cuba and ends with the last time she saw Celia. This arrangement emphasizes the painful separation and the conflict between Lourdes and Celia over the departure. The passage does not describe Celia’s appearance or introduce several narrators.
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