Question

PLEASE HELP ASAP!!!!

Read the passage below from “Marigolds” and answer question.

Miss Lottie’s house was the most ramshackle of all our ramshackle homes. The sun and rain had long since faded its rickety frame siding from white to a sullen gray. The boards themselves seemed to remain upright not from being nailed together but rather from leaning together, like a house that a child might have constructed from cards. A brisk wind might have blown it down, and the fact that it was still standing implied a kind of enchantment that was stronger than the elements. There it stood and as far as I know is standing yet—a gray, rotting thing with no porch, no shutters, no steps, set on a cramped lot with no grass, not even any weeds—a monument to decay.

What can best be inferred about Miss Lottie based on the description above?

Miss Lottie wished she could afford a better home.
Miss Lottie was an outcast.
Miss Lottie doesn’t have much wealth.
Miss Lottie was a loner with no family.

Answer 1

Answer: Miss Lottie doesn't have much wealth.

Explanation: The house's overall description is decrepit and very much worn. It is described as being "faded", "gray", and "rotted", and the speaker intentionally introduces it as an aged structure that has endured much from its environment. It is implied due to the era that the story takes place that Miss Lottie is poor given that it is the Great Depression.

Now onto why the other answers are wrong- The first line of the passage immediately debunks the second choice. "Miss Lottie's house was the most ramshackle of all our ramshackle homes." The language used here is inclusive of her and her home to be adjacent to the living conditions of everyone around them.

It is never stated in this passage that Miss Lottie wished to afford a better home. The entire purpose of this excerpt functions to introduce a part of the setting and does not touch on much of Miss Lottie's character.

The final answer choice is also debunked by what was stated above in my explanations. Based off this passage, Miss Lottie is included to some degree based off the fact everyone is pretty much living in squalor together in the neighborhood, and it is never stated in the passage anything about her family.