Read the following sentences from “Day of the Butterfly.”

“So Myra and Jimmy spent every recess standing in the little back porch between the two sides. Perhaps they watched the baseball games, the tag and skipping and building of leaf houses in the fall and snow forts in the winter; perhaps they did not watch at all. Whenever you happened to look at them their heads were slightly bent, their narrow bodies hunched in, quite still. They had long smooth oval faces, melancholy and discreet - dark, oily shining hair. The little boy's was long, clipped at home, and Myra's was worn in heavy braids coiled on top of her head so that she looked, from a distance, as if she was wearing a turban too big for her. Over their dark eyes, the lids were never fully raised; they had a weary look. But it was more than that. They were like children in a medieval painting, they were like small figures carved of wood, for worship or magic, with faces smooth and aged, and meekly, cryptically uncommunicative.”

What is the author's main purpose for including this description of Myra and her brother?
(1 point)
Responses

to highlight the narrator’s pity for them
to highlight the narrator’s pity for them

to show that the children live in a state of poverty
to show that the children live in a state of poverty

to emphasize the children’s isolation from the others
to emphasize the children’s isolation from the others

to suggest that Myra and her brother dislike the others

to emphasize the children’s isolation from the others

The correct answer is: to emphasize the children’s isolation from the others.

The author's main purpose for including this description of Myra and her brother is to emphasize the children's isolation from the others. To determine the author's main purpose for including this description, we can analyze the specific details provided. The sentences describe how Myra and Jimmy stand in a little back porch between the two sides during recess, suggesting that they are separate from the rest of the children. Additionally, their heads are slightly bent, and their bodies are hunched in, indicating a closed-off and withdrawn posture. The description also highlights their melancholy, weary look, and cryptically uncommunicative behavior. These details collectively convey a sense of isolation and distance from the others, suggesting that the author's intention is to emphasize the children's isolation.