Fences by Pat Mora

In this play, fences are used to 

• act as a barrier between oneself and others
• protect people emotionally
• can be an actual object that one could touch
• all of these options are correct

Tags

CCSS.L.9-10.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

In line 3, the poet mentions the "Suitcase full of dollars" mainly to convey-

• the reason why the visitors have traveled so far to come to the island

• the high cost of the hotel the visitors are staying at

• the sharp contrast between the people who live near the beach and the visitors

• the reason why the visitors to the hotels are very happy to be on vacation

Which lines best indicate that the tourists have little lasting effect on local life?

• Every morning my brother makes/the cool beach new for them,

• With a wooden board he smooths/away all the footprints

• I peek through the cactus fence/and watch the women rub oil/sweeter than honey into their arms and legs

• while their children jump waves/or sip drinks from long straws/coconut white, mango yellow

In lines 8-13, the speaker expresses a feeling of-

• hope, because the tourists are having such a good time on the beach

• uncertainty, because he does not know if he will be allowed to join the tourists

• anger, because he resents how the tourists take over the beaches that belong to his people

• wonder, because the tourists' lives are so much different from his own life

Because the poem is written from the speaker's point of view, the reader is better able to understand-

• how a child would react to this situation

• why tourism can destroy a native economy

• what the fences in the title represent

• why the mother reacts as she does at the end

Read line 17 from the poem. "My mother roared like the ocean,"

The poet uses a simile in this line to show that the mother is-

• as loud and powerful as the ocean

• terrified that her daughter will go where she does not belong

• angry that her daughter is being too friendly to foreigners

• eager to be heard over the sound of the waves

The repetition of the words "It's their beach, it's their beach" suggest that the mother-

• understands the wide gulf between local residents and the tourists

• wants the tourists to be able to enjoy the beach by themselves

• is afraid that her daughter will drown because she cannot swim

• believes that the beach is private property