Question

Many migrants have had their caps stolen, so they wrap their heads in T-shirts. They gaze enviously at villagers cooling themselves in streams and washing off after a day of fieldwork and at others who doze in hammocks slung in shady spots near adobe and cinder-block homes. The train cars sway from side to side, up and down, like bobbing ice cubes.

—Enrique’s Journey,

Sonia Nazario

How do the figurative language and narrative techniques in the passage support the author’s purpose? Check all that apply.

They show the difficulty of the journey.
They emphasize the natural environment.
They emphasize Enrique’s determination.
They show how cold it felt inside the train.
They show the hardships migrants endured

Answer 1

- They show the difficulty of the journey.
(Details like stolen caps, wrapping heads in T‑shirts, and the train swaying “like bobbing ice cubes” convey discomfort and peril.)

- They show the hardships migrants endured.
(Envying villagers’ clean, restful scenes and the cramped, unstable train imagery underscore deprivation and suffering.)

Not applicable: the passage doesn’t emphasize Enrique’s determination, nor does it primarily emphasize the natural environment; the simile doesn’t literally mean the train was cold, so “how cold it felt” is not supported.