Read the passage from “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”

Question

Mrs. Flowers had known that I would be embarrassed and that was even worse. I picked up the groceries and went out to wait in the hot sunshine. It would be fitting if I got a sunstroke and died before they came outside. Just dropped dead on the slanting porch.

There was a little path beside the rocky road, and Mrs. Flowers walked in front swinging her arms and picking her way over the stones.

She said, without turning her head, to me, "I hear you're doing very good school work, Marguerite, but that it's all written. The teachers report that they have trouble getting you to talk in class." We passed the triangular farm on our left and the path widened to allow us to walk together. I hung back in the separate unasked and unanswerable questions.

"Come and walk along with me, Marguerite." I couldn't have refused even if I wanted to.

Although Marguerite’s thoughts tell the reader directly that she was embarrassed, her actions let the reader infer that she was also

Answer 1

feeling ashamed and humiliated. This is evident in her desire to avoid contact with others and her wish to die before they see her in such a state. Additionally, her reluctance to walk with Mrs. Flowers and her hesitation in asking unanswerable questions indicate her discomfort and unwillingness to engage in conversation.