Excerpt adapted from The School Days of an Indian Girl from American Indian Stories
by Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Simmons Bonnin)
There were eight in our party of bronzed children who were going East with the missionaries. Among us were three young braves, two tall girls,
and we three little ones, Judéwin, Thowin, and I
We had been very impatient to start on our journey to the Red Apple Country, which, we were told, lay a little beyond the great circular horizon of
the Western prairie. Under a sky of rosy apples we dreamt of roaming as freely and happily as we had chased the cloud shadows on the Dakota
plains. We had anticipated much pleasure from a ride on the iron horse, but the throngs of staring palefaces disturbed and troubled us.
On the train, fair women with tottering babies on each arm, stopped their haste and scrutinized the children of absent mothers. Large men with
heavy bundles in their hands, halted near by, and riveted their glassy blue eyes upon us.
I sank deep into the comer of my seat, for I resented being watched. Directly in front of me, children who were no larger than I hung themselves
upon the backs of their seats, with their bold white faces toward me. Sometimes they took their forefingers out of their mouths and pointed at
my moccasined feet. Their mothers, instead of reproving such rude curiosity, looked closely at me, and attracted their children's further notice to
1
Select the correct answer.
How does the excerpt develop the theme that unfamiliar places can seem unwelcoming?
ОА
The narrator describes watching the poles pass by on the train ride to school.
OB
The author portrays the narrator as a naive young child arriving at the school
ОС
The narrator describes being fearful of the people and surroundings at the new school
The author describes the missionaries as distributing candy to the children on the train
OD