Home › NY Regents English Language Arts › English › Reading Comprehension: Narrative Nonfiction › Read these lines: "She was entirely unlike any o…
Read these lines: "She was entirely unlike any other white woman I had ever seen. I could not approach her as I was accustomed to approach other white ladies. My early instruction was all out of place. The crouching servility, usually so acceptable a quality in a slave, did not answer when manifested toward her. Her favor was not gained by it; she seemed to be disturbed by it." What do the quoted lines reveal about the woman?
AShe did not want the deference other white women expected
BShe had grown up in a household that owned many slaves
CShe spoke to the people in the house only through her husband
DShe had been taught to distrust anyone who was polite to her
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. She did not want the deference other white women expected
1. The narrator says his early instruction, meaning the manner he had been trained into, was out of place with her.
2. The manner is named: crouching servility, usually acceptable, which did not answer with her.
3. Her reaction is given too, that she was disturbed by it rather than pleased.
4. Wanting none of the deference others expected is exactly that, option A.
5. Option D is close but wrong in kind: she is disturbed by servility, not suspicious of politeness in general.
_Source: Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845), public domain_
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