Question

Read this excerpt from "Like Mexicans."

. . . I ignored them and climbed the back fence to see my best friend, Scott, a second-generation Okie.

What is the meaning of the underlined term in this context?
A. someone who is from the West and whose parents are from the West
B. someone who is racist and whose parents who are racist
C. someone who is not Mexican and whose parents are not Mexican
D. someone who is fluent in English and whose parents are fluent in English

Answer 1

The correct answer is A. The word Okie is a short way to say Oklahoma and is used to refer to the natives or inhabitant of that state. It also means a migrant agricultural worker from Oklahoma, in this case it has a pejorative sense. The best friend, Scott, is from the West and his parents too.

Answer 2

Based on the excerpt above taken from this story, what the underlined term (Okie) means as it is used in this context is someone who is from the West and whose parents are also of the same origin. Also, fun fact, "Like Mexicans" is actually a short story by Gary Soto.

The answer is A) Someone who is from the west whose parents are from the west.