Question

question 9 of 20
read this excerpt from \gravity\ by judith ortiz cofer:
i could never ask any of my friends over to our apartment.
they would have suffered culture shock. so i divided
myself into two people—actually three, if you counted the
after - school hippie version as a separate identity. it was
not always easy to shuffle out of my visionary self and into
the binding coat of propriety the puerto rican girl was
supposed to wear, although my parents were more
understanding than others in our barrio.
which of the main character’s traits does the passage most clearly reveal?
a. her sensitivity toward her friends’ needs
b. her struggle with meeting others’ expectations
c. her ease with practicing her family’s religion
d. her acceptance of her puerto rican heritage

Explanation:

The passage describes the main character dividing herself into multiple identities (e.g., the Puerto Rican girl expected to wear a "binding coat of propriety" and the after-school hippie version) and finding it "not always easy" to shift between these roles. This directly reflects her struggle to meet different expectations—from her family/culture and her social environment. Option A is incorrect because avoiding friends over is about her own identity conflict, not sensitivity to friends' needs. Option C is wrong as she finds shifting identities hard, not easy. Option D is incorrect because she feels constrained by the "binding coat" of her cultural role, not accepting it fully.

Answer:

B. Her struggle with meeting others' expectations