Question

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? It helps create uneasiness. It helps create trust. It helps create hope. It helps create calmness.

THE ANSWER IS A:It helps create uneasiness.

Answer 1

It helps create uneasiness.

Characterization is the way an author presents a character. In this excerpt the characters are described as "gangsters". It says that they are "eyeing" the migrants. The narrator also explains that the gangsters are wearing "white plastic rosaries...so the migrants will be less suspicious". These details create a feeling of uneasiness because the men are not described in a positive way and their behavior raises suspicion. There is also no evidence of calmness, hope, or trust in any of the descriptions of the gangsters even though the gangsters want to seem trustworthy and good.

Answer 2

The answer is "A: I helps create uneasiness" because the author briefly describes a group of people as gangsters and heavily implies they surveil a zone to find people who can be easily robbed after only a small attempt of gaining their trust. They accomplish this implication only describing their actions without plainly stating that they are indeed bad people, it's the characterization that helps the reader make the connection.