Determining the author's purpose in a text relies on (10 points)
biographical information
research the author used
evidence in the text<<<<<
the title of the text
2.
(LC)
Which elements of a text are most helpful in determining the author's point of view about a topic? (10 points)
Titles, bylines, and subtitles
Word choice and sentence details<<<<<<
Use of graphics or illustrations
List of sources and citations
3.
(LC)
What should readers use to check their understanding of a text? (10 points)
Information about the author's other works
Evidence from the text<<<
Notes provided by the teacher
Explanations from websites
4.
(MC)
"Enrique's Journey: A Boy Left Behind"
In the vast migration that is changing the U.S., thousands of children travel alone, seeking the mothers who went before them. Most are visited by cruelty. Some are touched by kindness. Success comes only to the brave and the lucky.
Chapter One
The boy does not understand.
His mother is not talking to him. She will not even look at him. Enrique has no hint of what she is going to do.
Lourdes knows. She understands, as only a mother can, the terror she is about to inflict, the ache Enrique will feel and finally the emptiness.
What will become of him? Already he will not let anyone else feed or bathe him. He loves her deeply, as only a son can. With Lourdes, he is a chatterbox. "Mira, Mami." Look, Mom, he says softly, asking her questions about everything he sees. Without her, he is so shy it is crushing.
Slowly, she walks out onto the porch. Enrique clings to her pant leg. Beside her, he is tiny. Lourdes loves him so much she cannot bring herself to say a word. She cannot carry his picture. It would melt her resolve. She cannot hug him. He is 5 years old.
They live on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa, in Honduras. She can barely afford food for him and his sister, Belky, who is 7. Lourdes, 24, scrubs other people's laundry in a muddy river. She fills a wooden box with gum and crackers and cigarettes, and she finds a spot where she can squat on a dusty sidewalk next to the downtown Pizza Hut and sell the items to passersby. The sidewalk is Enrique's playground.
They have a bleak future. He and Belky are not likely to finish grade school. Lourdes cannot afford uniforms or pencils. Her husband is gone. A good job is out of the question. So she has decided: She will leave. She will go to the United States and make money and send it home. She will be gone for one year, less with luck, or she will bring her children to be with her. It is for them she is leaving, she tells herself, but still, she feels guilty.
She kneels and kisses Belky and hugs her tightly.
Then Lourdes turns to her own sister. If she watches over Belky, she will get a set of gold fingernails from El Norte.
But Lourdes cannot face Enrique. He will remember only one thing that she says to him: "Don't forget to go to church this afternoon."
It is Jan. 29, 1989. His mother steps off the porch.
She walks away.
"¿Dónde esta mi mami?" Enrique cries, over and over. "Where is my mom?"
His mother never returns, and that decides Enrique's fate. As a teenager—indeed, still a child—he will set out for the U.S. on his own to search for her. Virtually unnoticed, he will become one of an estimated 48,000 children who enter the United States from Central America and Mexico each year, illegally and without eÍither of their parents. Roughly two-thirds of them will make it past the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Many go north seeking work. Others flee abusive families. Most of the Central Americans go to reunite with a parent, say counselors at a detention center in Texas where the INS houses the largest number of the unaccompanied children it catches. Of those, the counselors say, 75% are looking for their mothers. Some children say they need to find out whether their mothers still love them. A priest at a Texas shelter says they often bring pictures of themselves in their mothers' arms.
The journey is hard for the Mexicans but harder still for Enrique and the others from Central America. They must make an illegal and dangerous trek up the length of Mexico. Counselors and immigration lawyers say only half of them get help from smugglers. The rest travel alone. They are cold, hungry and helpless. They are hunted like animals by corrupt police, bandits and gang members deported from the United States. A University of Houston study found that most are robbed, beaten or , usually several times. Some are killed.
They set out with little or no money. Thousands, shelter workers say, make their way through Mexico clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains. Since the 1990s, Mexico and the United States have tried to thwart them. To evade Mexican police and immigration authorities, the children jump on and off the moving train cars. Sometimes they fall, and the wheels tear them apart.
They navigate by word of mouth or by the arc of the sun. Often, they don't know where or when they'll get their next meal. Some go days without eating. If a train stops even briefly, they crouch by the tracks, cup their hands and steal sips of water from shiny puddles tainted with diesel fuel. At night, they huddle together on the train cars or next to the tracks. They sleep in trees, in tall grass or in beds made of leaves.
Some are very young. Mexican rail workers have encountered 7-year-olds on their way to find their mothers. A policeman discovered a 9-year-old boy four years ago near the downtown Los Angeles tracks. "I'm looking for my mother," he said. The youngster had left Puerto Cortes in Honduras three months before, guided only by his cunning and the single thing he knew about her: where she lived. He asked everyone: "How do I get to San Francisco?"
Typically the children are teenagers. Some were babies when their mothers left; they know them only by pictures sent home. Others, a bit older, struggle to hold on to memories: One has slept in her mother's bed; another has smelled her perfume, put on her deodorant, her clothes. One is old enough to remember his mother's face, another her laugh, her favorite shade of lipstick, how her dress felt as she stood at the stove patting tortillas.
Many, including Enrique, begin to idealize their mothers. In their absence, these mothers become larger than life. Although the women struggle to pay rent and eat in the United States, in the imaginations of their children back home they become deliverance itself, the answer to every problem. Finding them becomes the quest for the Holy Grail.
Which line from the text most clearly shows the main idea of the passage? (10 points)
She understands, as only a mother can, the terror she is about to inflict
As a teenager—indeed, still a child—he will set out for the U.S. on his own to search for her.<<<<<
They are hunted like animals by corrupt police, bandits and gang members
Mexican rail workers have encountered 7-year-olds on their way to find their mothers.
5.
Which line from the text provides an example of how the author creates sympathy for Enrique's mother? (10 points)
Some are touched by kindness. Success comes only to the brave and the lucky.
Beside her, he is tiny. Lourdes loves him so much she cannot bring herself to say a word<<<<
Virtually unnoticed, he will become one of an estimated 48,000 children who enter the United States
The journey is hard for the Mexicans but harder still for Enrique and the others from Central America
Can you please check my answers?
I agree with all of your answers,
Hi there,
I wanted to introduce myself in a way that shows I’m interesting, witty and clever. Alas, I wrote this email instead.
I come bearing just what you’ve always wanted, another request! I’ll get this over as quickly as possible.
Are you accepting link insertions in old blog posts on your website?
If yes, how much would you charge for this?
If not, will you be interested in a 3-way link exchange that can help boost your website traffic?
Consider my fingers, toes and all appendages crossed!
Cheers,
Lucia Bernadi
Hustler 7
Sure! Let's go through each question and check your answers.
1. Determining the author's purpose in a text relies on:
The correct answer is evidence in the text, so you got it right!
2. Which elements of a text are most helpful in determining the author's point of view about a topic?
The correct answer is word choice and sentence details, so you got it right again!
3. What should readers use to check their understanding of a text?
The correct answer is evidence from the text, so you got it right once more!
4. Which line from the text most clearly shows the main idea of the passage?
The correct answer is "As a teenager—indeed, still a child—he will set out for the U.S. on his own to search for her." Oops, your answer was incorrect. The correct answer was the first option, "She understands, as only a mother can, the terror she is about to inflict."
5. Which line from the text provides an example of how the author creates sympathy for Enrique's mother?
The correct answer is "Beside her, he is tiny. Lourdes loves him so much she cannot bring herself to say a word." You got it right!
So, you got 4 out of 5 questions correct. Good job!
Yes, I will check your answers.
1. The correct answer is "evidence in the text".
2. The correct answer is "Word choice and sentence details".
3. The correct answer is "Evidence from the text".
4. The correct answer is "As a teenager—indeed, still a child—he will set out for the U.S. on his own to search for her."
5. The correct answer is "Beside her, he is tiny. Lourdes loves him so much she cannot bring herself to say a word."
All of your answers are correct! Well done.
For question 1, the correct answer is "evidence in the text." To determine the author's purpose, you can look for clues within the text itself. Pay attention to the language used, the tone of the writing, and any specific arguments or examples presented.
For question 2, the correct answer is "Word choice and sentence details." To determine the author's point of view about a topic, you can analyze the specific words and phrases they use, as well as the way they construct their sentences. Look for any bias, opinions, or subtle hints that can help you understand their perspective.
For question 3, the correct answer is "Evidence from the text." To check your understanding of a text, you should rely on information and details provided within the text itself. Look for key points, main arguments, supporting evidence, and any explanations or examples given by the author.
For question 4, the correct answer is "As a teenager—indeed, still a child—he will set out for the U.S. on his own to search for her." This line clearly states the main idea of the passage, which is that Enrique, as a teenager, will embark on a journey to the US alone in search of his mother.
For question 5, the correct answer is "Beside her, he is tiny. Lourdes loves him so much she cannot bring herself to say a word." This line demonstrates how the author creates sympathy for Enrique's mother by emphasizing her love for him and her struggle to leave him behind.
All your answers are correct! Well done!