The Distance Between Us Chapters 6-12

Which of the following is an example of Reyna experiencing hometown pride and excitement for her future on her first day of first grade?Which of the following is an example of Reyna experiencing hometown pride and excitement for her future on her first day of first grade?

Soon, it is Reyna’s first day of first grade. She is excited to finally be in school with her older siblings, and happy to have a special uniform and shiny new shoes to wear. On her first morning of school, she gathers with Mago and Carlos in the courtyard to salute the flag and watch the color guard perform a march. Mago stares longingly at the team, dreaming of the day when she will get to join the color guard, too. As Reyna watches the march, she feels full of hometown pride and excitement for her future.Soon, it is Reyna’s first day of first grade. She is excited to finally be in school with her older siblings, and happy to have a special uniform and shiny new shoes to wear. On her first morning of school, she gathers with Mago and Carlos in the courtyard to salute the flag and watch the color guard perform a march. Mago stares longingly at the team, dreaming of the day when she will get to join the color guard, too. As Reyna watches the march, she feels full of hometown pride and excitement for her future.

What is an example of how school provides a safe place for Reyna and her siblings to dream of their future?

Reyna, the youngest of her siblings, sees school as the one place where she, Mago, and Carlos can just be normal kids and dream normal dreams. At school, no one is there to abuse or degrade them, and they can feel free to imagine what their futures will hold.

According to the text, why does Reyna begin to hate her name?

In class, Reyna learns to write her name. When she uses her left hand to write, though, she is beaten by her teacher. Abuela Evila, too, has beaten her for using her left hand to do tasks around the house, calling it “the side of evil” and warning her that if she continues using it, it will shrivel up and die. Reyna looks at the letters of her name and begins to hate it.

What psychological concept is Reyna experiencing when she begins to wonder if she is the problem and whether she deserves the abuse and pain that come her way?

Reyna is given a nasty shock, however, when she realizes that there is pain and suffering even at school—she begins to wonder if perhaps she is the problem, and whether she is deserving of all the abuse and pain that come her way. 

Which of the following statements best describes Reyna's critical thinking skills in the given scenario?

At lunchtime, Reynameets up with Mago and Carlos. They watch as their classmates buy food from women selling enchiladas and taquitos at the school entrance, but they don’t have enough money to buy food themselves. Mago, Carlos, and Reyna see one of their classmates drop his mango on the ground. Mago urges Carlos to go over and pick it up so that they can share it. When he refuses, she asks Reyna to do it, but Reyna, too, refuses. After the bell rings, and everyone goes back to their classrooms, Reyna lingers in the courtyard. Once it’s empty, she goes over and picks up the mango, brushes the dirt off of it, and bites into it.

Based on the passage, which of the following is an example of Reyna's behavior that illustrates the extent of her hunger and malnourishment?

Reyna and her siblings are so poor—and so uncared for by their grandmother—that they cannot even afford lunch at school and are reduced to eating scraps. Reyna doesn’t want to stoop to such a level, but as soon as no one is looking, she knows that she cannot control her hunger. This passage shows just how malnourished and desperate Reyna really is. 

What is Élida's reaction when the mailman hands the large box to Mago instead of to her?

Every afternoon, Magoand Élida stand at the gate, waiting for the mail carrier, hoping that there will be letters from El Otro Lado. One day, the mailman brings a large box, and Élida assumes it is for her. When the mailman hands Mago the box, Élida is surprised and disgruntled. Christmas is only two days away, and Élida is expecting presents.

What can be inferred about Élida from her reaction to her cousins receiving something she did not?

Despite the fact that Élida was not so long ago humbled in front of her cousins, she still has a hard time coping when they receive something and she does not—it is such an extraordinary event that she can barely get her head around it.

What is Reyna's concern when she realizes that the clothes and shoes in the box are too small for her, Carlos, and Mago?

Mago brings the box inside and she, Carlos, and Reyna tear it open. It is filled with clothes and shoes for all three of them, and they hurry to put the pretty garments on. All three are saddened when they realize that the clothes and shoes are several sizes too small—their parents don’t realize how much they’ve grown. Reyna wonders, if her parents don’t know “something as basic” as the size of their clothes and shoes, what else they don’t know about their children—and, more frighteningly, what they don’t know about their parents.

What can be inferred about the relationship between the children and their parents from the passage?

Mago, Carlos, and Reyna’s joy and excitement when they realize they’ve received gifts from their parents is quickly tempered when they try the clothes on and see that everything is too small for them. This painful moment shows that their parents no longer truly know much about them—every day they spend apart from their parents, the physical distance remains the same, but distances of other kinds grow. 

What is the consequence of Mago, Carlos, and Reyna wearing the ill-fitting clothes and shoes?

Mago, Carlos, and Reynadecide to wear the ill-fitting clothes and shoes anyway, and they set off to run through the town and show them off. Their neighbors admire their clothes, and no one calls them “orphans” anymore. As the children run through town, however, their new shoes give them horrible blisters.

What is the contrast between how Reyna and her siblings appear to others and how they actually feel on the inside?

Reyna and her siblings cast their worries aside quickly and parade their gifts through town. To the others, they appear lucky and loved; on the inside, though, they are growing pained, worried, and blistered.

What is the reason behind the construction of the family's "dream house"?

Four years after Reyna’s Papi left for the United States—and two years after her Mami left, too—construction at last begins on their family’s “dream house.” Evila gives Papi a piece of her property, and workers begin building the house right next to Evila’s. Though Reyna doesn’t want to live next to Evila, she knows it is her parents’ only option. The workers tear down both the outhouse and the shack where Reyna was born, and though Reyna is sad, Mago urges her to imagine the beautiful home that will take its place.

How do Mago and her siblings feel about the "dream house" now that it is becoming a reality?

As ground breaks on the dream house, Mago and her siblings begin, for the first time, to see the place’s potential. Before their parents left, they were so desperate to keep them that they insisted none of them needed the dream house—now that it is about to become a reality, though, the children are getting excited about the idea of having a real home of their own.

What happens to the construction of the "dream house" in the passage?

As construction continues, Reyna and her siblings pitch in and help the bricklayers. They are tired and sore at the end of each day, but the thought of living together with their parents again gives them strength. Soon, though, the workers stop coming—the money has run out, and the house will have to wait. Magobecomes angry, and tells her siblings that the house will never be finished—and neither will their parents return to them.