Question

Then the second-graders line up for the thirty-yard dash and I don't even bother to turn my head to watch cause Raphael Perez always wins. He wins before he even begins by psyching the runners, telling them they're going to trip on their shoelaces and fall on their faces or lose their shorts or something, which he doesn't really have to do since he is very fast, almost as fast as I am. Read the passage. Then explain how Raphael is characterized based on the way Squeaky describes him.

Answer 1

Squeaky characterizes Raphael as both a fast runner and a psychological tactician who intimidates his opponents to secure his victories in races.

Step-by-step explanation:

Raphael is characterized by Squeaky as a confident and skilled runner, but also as someone who employs psychological tactics to unsettle his opponents before a race. The passage suggests that he intimidates other runners by predicting embarrassing mishaps for them, which likely helps him secure his victories. Despite this, Squeaky acknowledges Raphael's inherent speed, mentioning that he is "very fast", and comparing his speed to her own.

Answer 2

Raphael Perez is characterized as someone not only fast (almost as fast as Squeaky, the narrator) but also willing to use psychological warfare to inflict doubt and fear on his competitors even before the race actually begins.

He does this by cleverly bringing attention to a number of potential pitfalls that his track competitors might run into or encounter, regardless of the fact that some of these pitfalls are quite hilarious and probably very unlikely to happen during the actual race.