Read the excerpt from “In Response to Executive Order 9066.” I’ve packed my galoshes and three packets of tomato seeds. Denise calls them love apples. My father says where we’re going they 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
Both speakers frequently refer to their cultural identities, which they strongly prefer over an American identity.
D
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.