Question and answer review Please help
Story.
(Arturo’s mother asked him to visit his grandfather, who lives in a nursing home. Arturo did not want to go, but he finally agreed and is now sitting with his grandfather.)
^^^^^^^^paragraph 1^^^^^^^^ His name is Arturo too. I was named after him. I don’t really know my grandfather. His children, including my mother, came to New York and New Jersey (where I was born) and he stayed on the Island until my grandmother died. Then he got sick, and since nobody could leave their jobs to go take care of him, they brought him to this nursing home in Brooklyn. I see him a couple of times a year, but he’s always surrounded by his sons and daughters. My mother tells me that Don Arturo had once been a teacher back in Puerto Rico, but had lost his job after the war. Then he became a farmer. She’s always saying in a sad voice, “Ay, bendito! What a waste of a fine mind.” Then she usually shrugs her shoulders and says, “Así es la vida.” That’s the way life is. It sometimes makes me mad that the adults I know just accept whatever is thrown at them because “that’s the way things are.” Not for me. I go after what I want.
^^^^^^^paragraph 2^^^^^^^
Anyway, Abuelo is looking at me like he was trying to see into my head, but he doesn’t say anything. Since I like stories, I decide I may as well ask him if he’ll read me what he wrote.
^^^^^^^Paragraph 3^^^^^^^
I look at my watch: I’ve already used up twenty minutes of the hour I promised my mother.
^^^^^^^^^^Paragraph 4^^^^^^^^^^^^
Abuelo starts talking in his slow way. He speaks what my mother calls book English. He taught himself from a dictionary, and his words sound stiff, like he’s sounding them out in his head before he says them. With his children he speaks Spanish, and that funny book English with us grandchildren. I’m surprised that he’s still so sharp, because his body is shrinking like a crumpled-up brown paper sack with some bones in it. But I can see from looking into his eyes that the light is still on in there.
^^^^^^^paragraph 5^^^^^^^^
“It is a short story, Arturo. The story of my life. It will not take very much time to read it.”
^^^^^paragraph 6^^^^^^^
“I have time, Abuelo.” I’m a little embarrassed that he saw me looking at my watch.
^^^^^^^^^^Paragraph 7^^^^^^^^^^^
yes,hijo. You have spoken the truth. La verdad you have much time.
^^^^^^^^^paragraph 8^^^^^^^^^^^
Abuelo reads: “‘I loved words from the beginning of my life. In the campo where I was born one of seven sons, there were few books. My mother read them to us over and over: the Bible, the stories of Spanish conquistadors and of pirates that she had read as a child and brought with her from the city of Mayaguez; that was before she married my father, a coffee bean farmer; and she taught us words from the newspaper that a boy on a horse brought every week to her. She taught each of us how to write on a slate with chalks that she ordered by mail every year. We used those chalks until they were so small that you lost them between your fingers.
^^^^^^^^^^paragraph 9^^^^^^^^^^
“‘I always wanted to be a writer and a teacher. With my heart and my soul I knew that I wanted to be around books all of my life. And so against the wishes of my father, who wanted all his sons to help him on the land, she sent me to high school in Mayaguez. For four years I boarded with a couple she knew. I paid my rent in labor, and I ate vegetables I grew myself. I wore my clothes until they were thin as parchment. But I graduated at the top of my class! My whole family came to see me that day. My mother brought me a beautiful
^^^^^^^^^paragraph 10^^^^^^^^^
, a white shirt made of the finest cotton and embroidered by her own hands. I was a happy young man.
^^^^^paragraph 11^^^^^^^^
“‘I had books sent to me by the government. I felt like a rich man although the pay was very small. I had books. All the books I wanted! I taught my students how to read poetry and plays, and how to write them. We made up songs and put on shows for the parents. It was a beautiful time for me.
^^^^^paragraph 12^^^^^^^^
“‘Then the war came, and the American President said that all Puerto Rican men would be drafted. I wrote to our governor and explained that I was the only teacher in the mountain village. I told him that the children would go back to the fields and grow up ignorant if I could not teach them their letters. I said that I thought I was a better teacher than a soldier. The governor did not answer my letter. I went into the U.S. Army.
^^^^paragraph 13^^^^^^^
“‘I told my sergeant that I could be a teacher in the army. I could teach all the farm boys their letters so that they could read the instructions on the ammunition boxes and not blow themselves up. The sergeant said I was too smart for my own good, and gave me a job cleaning latrines. He said to me there is reading material for you there, scholar. Read the writing on the walls. I spent the war mopping floors and cleaning toilets.
^^^^^^paragraph 14^^^^^^^^^
“‘When I came back to the Island, things had changed. You had to have a college degree to teach school, even the lower grades. My parents were sick, two of my brothers had been killed in the war, the others had stayed in Nueva York. I was the only one left to help the old people. I became a farmer. I married a good woman who gave me many good children. I taught them all how to read and write before they started school.’”
^^^Paragraph 15^^^^^^
Abuelo then puts the notebook down on his lap and closes his eyes.
^^^Paragraph 16^^^^^^
Así es la vida is the title of my book,” he says in a whisper, almost to himself. Maybe he’s forgotten that I’m there.
^^^Paragraph 17^^^^^^
For a long time he doesn’t say anything else. I think that he’s sleeping, but then I see that he’s watching me through half-closed lids, maybe waiting for my opinion of his writing. I’m trying to think of something nice to say. I liked it and all, but not the title. And I think that he could’ve been a teacher if he had wanted to bad enough. Nobody is going to stop me from doing what I want with my life. I’m not going to let la vida get in my way.
1:Which paragraphs represent the exposition in Abuelo’s story?
Paragraphs:
8-10
10-12
12-14****
14-15
PART A:Based on the information in paragraph 12, how does Abuelo feel about the news that he will be drafted?
Afraid he will have to go to war.
Eager to see new places and meet new people.
Worried because the village will not have a teacher.****
Angry that he is being forced to become a soldier.
PART B:Which two opposing forces create the conflict you identified in the previous question?
Abuelo and the village children****
Abuelo and the U.S. government
Abuelo and nature
Abuelo is in conflict with himself.
Help please someone (I Took alot of time typing please help :( ^)