Question

Read the excerpt from “Speaking Arabic.”

At a neighborhood fair in Texas, somewhere between the German Oom-pah Sausage Stand and the Mexican Gorditas booth, I overheard a young man say to his friend, “I wish I had a heritage. Sometimes I feel—so lonely for one.” And the tall American trees were dangling their thick branches right down over his head.

In this excerpt, the author reveals the narrator’s view on heritage by
describing the memory of a family member.
describing a conversation with someone else.
presenting dialogue that includes a similar perspective.
presenting dialogue that includes a contrasting perspective.

Answer 1

The correct answer is; presenting dialogue that includes a contrasting perspective.

Indeed, there is a hint of irony in the description that immediately follows the dialogue. The immediate landscape is used to show the “heritage-deprived” person that he actually does have a heritage. In other words, he does not need to be a hyphenated American in order to have a heritage because it is right there “dangling over his head”.

The symbolism of the “tall American tree” is used to show how the speaker of these lines that America has its own heritage, which lies in  its history, its melting pot and its territory and he cannot even see it. It is this symbolism that provides the contrasting perspective.

Answer 2

Answer:

D.) Presenting a dialogue that includes a contrasting perspective.

Explanation:

Because I said so lol