Read the excerpt from “In Response to Executive Order 9066.”I’ve packed my galoshesand three packets of tomato seeds. Denise calls themlove apples. My father says where we’re goingthey won’t grow. Read the excerpt from “Mericans.” She’s so busy taking Junior’s picture, she doesn’t notice me and Keeks. “Hey, Michele, Keeks. You guys want gum?” “But you speak English!”“Yeah,” my brother says, “we’re Mericans.”Which of the statements best describes both excerpts?
Answer
A
The speaker in Okita’s poem uses the tomato, a food native to the Americas, to highlight the speaker’s American identity, while the speaker in “Mericans” uses the English language to give her characters an American identity
B
The writers use bleak imagery to convey the sense of isolation they feel from their respective cultures.
C
The speaker of Okita’s poem feels a sense of loss at the prospect of being moved from her home, while the speaker of Cisneros’s short story longs to leave her current location and return to the United States.
D
Both speakers frequently refer to their cultural identities, which they strongly prefer over an American identity.
Explanation
In Okita’s poem, the speaker packs tomato seeds, and her father says they will not grow where the family is being sent. The tomato, a food associated with the Americas, suggests the speaker’s American identity, which contrasts with the forced relocation. In “Mericans,” the children’s ability to speak English leads the other character to recognize them as American. Both excerpts connect an American identity to something concrete: the tomato in one and English in the other.
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