Question

read the excerpt from gary soto’s story “like mexicans.”
my grandmother gave me bad advice and good advice when i was in my early teens. for the bad advice, she said that i should become a barber because they made good money and listened to the radio all day. “honey, they don’t work como burros,” she would say every time i visited her. she made the sound of donkeys braying, “like that, honey!” for the good advice, she said that i should marry a mexican girl. “no okies, hijo”—she would say—“look, my son. he marry one and they fight every day about i don’t know what and i don’t know what.” for her, everyone who wasn’t mexican, black, or asian were okies. the french were okies, the italians in suits were okies. . . . she lectured me on the virtues of the mexican girl.
what inference can be made about the grandmother’s point of view in this excerpt?
○ she is eager to assimilate herself and her family into mainstream us culture.
○ she is unwilling to embrace any aspect of multiculturalism because she detests us culture.
○ she wants to preserve her family’s mexican culture even though she no longer lives in mexico.
○ she believes that marrying an “okie” is equivalent to ruining any prospects of financial success.

Explanation:

To determine the grandmother's point of view, analyze each option:

• Option 1: The grandmother discourages marrying non - Mexicans (labels many as “Okies”) and promotes Mexican cultural ties, so she is not eager to assimilate into mainstream US culture. Eliminate this.
• Option 2: There's no indication she detests US culture, just a preference for Mexican cultural preservation in marriage. Eliminate this.
• Option 3: She advises marrying a Mexican girl and has a narrow view of non - Mexicans (calling them “Okies”). This shows she wants to preserve her family’s Mexican culture even though she lives in the US (not Mexico anymore). This fits.
• Option 4: The excerpt focuses on cultural preferences in marriage, not financial success related to “Okie” marriages. Eliminate this.

Answer:

C. She wants to preserve her family’s Mexican culture even though she no longer lives in Mexico.