Question

Read the excerpt from "A Genetics of Justice” by Julia Alvarez.

Periodically, Trujillo would demand a tribute, and they would acquiesce. A tax, a dummy vote, a portrait on the wall. To my father and other men in the country, the most humiliating of these tributes was the occasional parade in which women were made to march and turn their heads and acknowledge the great man as they passed the review stand.

If you did not march, your cédula would not be stamped, and without a stamped identification card, you could do nothing; in particular, you could not obtain your passport to leave the country under the pretext of wanting to study heart surgery. This was the second escape—this time with his whole family—that my father was planning.

The day came when my mother had to march. The parade went on for hours in the hot sun until my mother was sure she was going to faint. Her feet were swollen and hurting. The back of her white dress was damp with sweat. Finally when she thought she could not go one more step, the grandstand came into sight, a clutter of dress uniforms, a vague figure on the podium.

Which statement best analyzes how the author develops the central idea across the paragraphs?

Alvarez traces how Trujillo demanded the tributes, how her family reacted, and how it was finally her mother’s turn to pay tribute.
Alvarez describes how her family reacted to Trujillo’s demands and how that affected their lives when they left the Dominican Republic.
Alvarez retells her mother’s humiliating experience of paying tribute to a dictator she did not support.
Alvarez describes how Trujillo’s mandatory taxes and tributes affected her mother in a negative way.

Answer 1

The correct answer is option one.

First, the author describes how Dominican dictator Trujillo requires tributes to be made in his name and provides a few examples. Secondly, Alvarez explains her father's reaction to one of Trujillo's praises. Finally, she depicts the moment her mother has to go through a humiliating tribute to a dictator she does not support.

Answer 2

Answer: Alvarez traces how Trujillo demanded the tributes, how her family reacted, and how it was finally her mother’s turn to pay tribute.

In these lines, Alvarez develops the idea by going from the general to the specific. First, she explains to us how Trujillo demanded tributes from everyone, and how he made this vital for anyone who wanted to have a life in the country. She then tells us how this affected her family, and their plans to escape. Finally, Alvarez explains the impact this had on her mother especifically, when it was her turn to pay tribute.