The passage below (paragraph 8) adds to the development of the text mainly by what?

Question

The passage below (paragraph 8) adds to the development of the text mainly by .

A railing divided the stairs onto the train, one side of the railing for white passengers, the other for colored, so the soles of their shoes would not touch the same stair. He boarded on the colored side of the railing, a final reminder from the place of his birth of the absurdity of the world he was leaving.

Answer choices for the above question

A. arguing that the “separate but equal” law made life better for African Americans

B. offering a glimpse into everyday life for Southerners during the 1940s

C. providing an example of the prejudice that African Americans wanted to leave behind

D. showing that Jim Crow laws were often ignored by African Americans by the 1940s

Answer 1

The answer would be letter C.

The first sentence explained how the Jim Crow laws created "separate but equal" stairs for this train. However, the following sentences do not provide any examples of life being easier or better. Rather, the narrator referred to this as absurd which would show he believes the opposite of answer A.

Answer B may be correct but it is not the best answer. It is nowhere stated that this took place in the South or in the 1940s. While it may be assumed that this is the case there is a better answer. I can be inferred that the character is a person of color and therefore cannot represent the South as a whole.

The last sentence of this passage proves that the answer is C because we can infer that he is African American from the statement that he "boarded on the colored side of the railing," and this is a specific part of the answer C. It shows that African Americans in this time were forced to be separated so white people would not have to touch anyone not white, which is an example of prejudice. The end of the passage also shows intent to leave the place where this is occurring which is also a part of answer C.

Finally, The answer cannot be D because it is obvious that the Jim Crow laws were not ignored as the character was forced to use the stairs designated for non-white people.