Read the excerpt from Enrique’s Journey . Two gangsters had overheard his description and kicked him mercilessly. "Next time, we kill you," the gangsters told him. The teenager, afraid for his life, asked to be deported. Read the excerpt from "Children of the Drug Wars." We should also make it easier for children to apply as refugees when they are still in Central America, as we have done for people in Iraq, Cuba, countries in the former Soviet Union, Vietnam and Haiti. Those who showed a well-founded fear of persecution wouldn’t have to make the perilous journey north alone. How do details from the excerpts support the purpose of advocating for children from Central America?
Read the excerpt from Enrique’s Journey. Enrique greets the dawn without incident. The stars recede. The sky lightens behind the mountains to the east, and mist rises off the fields on both sides of the tracks. Men trot by on burros with tin milk containers strapped to their saddles, starting their morning deliveries. Which narrative technique does the author include in this excerpt, and how does it support the author’s purpose?
Read the excerpt from Enrique’s Journey. Enrique’s head throbs. The sun reflects off the metal. It stings his eyes, and his skin tingles. It drains the little energy he has left. He moves around the car, chasing patches of shade. For a while, he stands on a narrow ledge at the end of a fuel tanker. It is just inches above the wheels. He cannot let himself fall asleep; one good shake of the train, and he would tumble off. What is the author’s purpose in this biography excerpt?
Read the excerpt from Enrique’s Journey. During his first attempts north, a chance meeting saved Enrique from the worst of the gangs. As he set out on his trip, he noticed another teenager, a gangster named El Brujo, at the bus station in Honduras waiting to go to the Mexican border. Enrique doesn’t like gangs. But as the two spent hours traveling through Honduras and Guatemala together, they became friends. On their first train ride through Chiapas, El Brujo introduced Enrique to a dozen other MS members, among them Big Daddy, who is skinny and short; El Chino (the Chinaman), who has slanted eyes; and El Payaso (the Clown), who has a big mouth and eyes. On subsequent trips, when he was deported, he always stuck with one of these gang members to protect himself from any attacks. The author uses the narrative technique of characterization in this excerpt. How does this technique support her purpose?
Read the excerpt from Enrique’s Journey. Enrique puts Chiapas behind him. He still has far to go, but he has faced the beast eight times now, and he has lived through it. It is an achievement, and he is proud of it. The excerpt refers to Chiapas as "the beast.” What is the purpose of using this metaphor in the excerpt?
In Enrique’s Journey , Sonia Nazario tells readers about Enrique’s emotional journey as he tries to leave Honduras. Why does writing about this in the form of a biography support her purpose?
Read the excerpt from Enrique’s Journey. Before the train leaves, the gangsters roam the Tapachula depot, eyeing which migrants are buying food and where they stash their cash afterward. They try to get friendly with the migrants, telling them they have already done the train ride. Maybe they can offer tips? Many of the gangsters wear white plastic rosaries around their necks so the migrants will be less suspicious. They ask, "Where are you from? Where are you going? Do you have any money?" How does the narrative technique of characterization support the author’s purpose in this excerpt?
Read the excerpt from Enrique’s Journey. He was five years old when his mother left him. Now he is almost another person. In the window glass, he sees a battered young man, scrawny and disfigured. It angers him, and it steels his determination to push northward. Read the excerpt from "Children of the Drug Wars." Children from Central America have been making that journey, often without their parents, for two decades. But lately something has changed, and the predictable flow has turned into an exodus. Three years ago, about 6,800 children were detained by United States immigration authorities and placed in federal custody; this year, as many as 90,000 children are expected to be picked up. How do details from the excerpts support the author’s purpose?
Read the excerpt from Enrique’s Journey. Moreover, the Mara Salvatrucha street gangsters, some deported from Los Angeles, always prowl the train tops looking for sleepers. Many MS gangsters settle in Chiapas after committing crimes in the United States and being expelled to their home countries in Central America. The police in Chiapas are more forgiving of gangs than those in El Salvador or Honduras. How does the meaning of the underlined word, prowl , support the author’s purpose in this excerpt? Choose two correct answers.
Read the excerpt from "Children of the Drug Wars.” These children are facing threats similar to the forceful conscription of child soldiers by warlords in Sudan or during the civil war in Bosnia. Being forced to sell drugs by narcos is no different from being forced into military service. Read the excerpt from Enrique’s Journey. The MS gangsters decide to retaliate and throw the gangster off the train. Enrique refuses to participate, creating a rift. "If you are MS, you have to kill 18th Streeters. And if you are 18th Street, you must kill MS. I wasn't like that," Enrique says. After the fight with his friends, halfway through Chiapas, the gang members stop riding with Enrique. That night, without their protection, the six men beat him on top of the train. How is the author’s purpose similar in both excerpts?
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