Question

Read the excerpt from My Story.

She took me up a flight of stairs (the cells were on the second level), through a door covered with iron mesh, and along a dimly lighted corridor. She placed me in an empty dark cell and slammed the door closed. She walked a few steps away, but then she turned around and came back. She said, "There are two girls around the other side, and if you want to go over there with them instead of being in a cell by yourself, I will take you over there.” I told her that it didn’t matter, but she said, "Let’s go around there, and then you won’t have to be in a cell alone.” It was her way of being nice. It didn’t make me feel any better.

How does Rosa Parks help the reader understand her emotions in this excerpt?

by describing in detail the order of what happened to her
by comparing her feelings to those of other prisoners she met
by sharing the exact dimensions of the prison cell she was put in
by explaining how her feelings were expressed as pain in her body

Answer 1

by describing in detail the order of what happened to her

She recounts the actions and moments (taken to the cell, door slammed, offered company) and comments “It didn’t make me feel any better,” which lets readers infer her loneliness and emotional state from the sequence and her reaction.