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How do think the character is feeling in this part of the story? Why?

The character, Mateo is really regretting his decision of going to work to dig the Panama Canal. He felt like he was forced into slavery. He tried to escape his brutal work but was to late. He was threatened to be inprisoned and chained. All the workers had signed a contract, so they would not be able to escape their work. The text says,”So I sneak away at night, planning to find my way back to the docks, hoping to board any ship headed home... But if caught by a policeman and dragged back to my boxcar,where all of us were warned that it’s too late for escape. We signed contracts. If we break them, we’ll be arrested and chained.” These people are way underpaid like ten cents an hour for there work, digging and digging. However, the Americans get are paid gold just for watching them work. According to the text it states,”The payroll office is just a train car with two windows and two signs. GOLD. SILVER. My first two English words. Our whole crew waits in a slow, snaking line that leads to the SILVER sign, While beside at the GOLD window a short, swiftly moving row of americano foremen and steam-shovel drivers hold out big, floppy cowboy hats to catch a shower of gold. Gold. Just like bell brightcoins in that recruiters magic show of metallic music. When my turn finally comes, I hold out a cupped palm to receive a moon glossy trickle of silver. My pay amounts to a mere twenty cents and hour of spirit crushing misery.”
Already you can see that he has tricked into being rich for this “bone cracking” work. If I were him I would feel I didn’t have any purpose. What would be like if you were tricked into “slavery?”

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Prompt:

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What is the structure of the story? How do you know?

We believe the structure of, “Silver People” could be problem and solution. The main problem could be the work that they do every day, eventually that problem was solved when the Panama Canal was finished. Henry ran to a tribe and got married, While Mateo and Anita Ran to the mountains and also got married too.
The text states,”Nights of imagining anarchy are terrifying, but days of lifting and moving train tracks are so exhausting and and painful that I feel as though I’m being swallowed and chewed by a monster made of living breathing hungry mud.”
On page 36, it states,” My hands feel like scorpion claws champed on a hard shovel all day, then curled into fists at night.” When the Panama Canal was finally finished, they let everybody go. According to the text it states,” Last year when all the digging finally ended, the entire forest was flooded—trees drowned, crate towns vanished and at least fifty thousand silver people fled for their lives, along with native villagers and all the wildlife, including desperately swimming Jaguars and flailing, hooting, howling monkeys.” I think the book was ok, I didn’t really enjoy it

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What is the meaning of, ”Suddenly Life seems as changeable as a clearwing butterfly that  appears green when it rests on a leaf, brown on a twig, or blue in a cloudless sky.” What are the clues that helped you determine the main idea.

This phrase means a lot, I believe it means that life can change fast. One minute Mateo was looking for a job, the next he signed up for digging the Panama Canal. He was tricked into doing a brutal and cruel job.According to the text it states,” So I shove and curse along with the crowd of muscular men, all of us equally eager to a fast-talking americano Panama Canal recruiter who promises food, houses and money,... So much money.” But right when they got to the Panama they realized their mistake. Their are clues that did not help Evan determine the meaning. Once a clear wing butterfly lands on a brown twig, it changes fast into that color. When it lands on a leaf it changes color to the leaf. That’s how fast life can change. For instance, my life changed pretty fast. I used to be a baby, now I’m a boy.

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What is, the character feeling in this part if the story?

I think that Mateo is feeling depressed and like he doesn’t belong to himself anymore. I think this because he is a worker for the Panama Canal. When he found out that thousands of jobs were open Mateo decided to look into it. I know this because on the first page of the book is sais, “Fear is a fierce wind that sends me reeling down to the seashore, where I beg for work, any work at all, any escape to carry me far from my fathers furious fists. Sailor. Fisherman. Lobster trapper. I am willing to take any job that takes me far from home. I am not an ordinary war orphan.” He is willing to take any job. So he does. There is only one thing about the one that he takes. He is promised good food, wonderful homes, alot  of money. But that promis never stays true. Instead of a nice bed and house they get a small shelter draped with misquoted sheets and worn down cots. Their food is mushy, stale, not at all healthy. And adding on to that they have to watch whites eat good food and sit in nice dining shaded areas while on their don’t even get to sit. This is very unfair to the people who came here to help their families and to help with work. But they are not willing anymore. I know that this is true because when it was Mateo’s perspective he tried to run away but in the book it sais, “But every night the man said it was to late to escape.” Mateo and the other men and women are not entertained by the compitition they are given for work. They are not trying to work harder because of it. I wouldn’t be either. In my opinion the characters in this book deserve much more than they are given. That is why I think that Mateo feels like he is depressed and doesn’t belong to himself anymore.

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What words discribe the main character? (Anita)

In my opinion the best word that describes Anita is generous. I think this because she is so giving to everyone. She roams the forest not daring to take the lives of any animals for her herbs. She is carful to not invade the territory to the animals to. But more to the humans she sells homesick herbs for little money to workers. She is definitely against hiring people to do the job that leads the way to death. Anita does try to stay out of trouble but you can really tell that she does care. One thing that shows she really cares is on page 92-93 the text says, “ But Mateo’s arrest was absurd. He is accused of being a kicker journalist, one of the rebellious writers of articles about the canal’s engineering troubles and labor troubles, landslides, fevers, failures, protests. I know for a fact that Mateo did not write those pamphlets. I saw the words in Gallego, Catalan. Languages from Spain. Regional dialects that no islander knows. So I take all of my money to the police, and I pay a hefty bribe, adding a few threats just to terrify the officers, who fear the secret magic of women with poisonous native herbs.” You can tell that Anita just risked her life to save Mateo. She also gave years of money worth to save him. Now that’s generous! This is why I think that Anita has a wonderful generous personality.

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aroundThe story Silver People takes place in the Panama Canal. The Americans are trying to dig a trench that supports most of our imports and exports. The Panama Canal supports mainly our whole country. The problem is, that Americans arn’t willing to work for silver. So they take people who already have nothing and shove them in small misquote trimmed cots with less than 20 cents per hour. They have been measured for their graves because they are being worked to death. Hard work is one thing but when they are in the middle of the jungle with danger lurking every corner, you start to wonder what life really means. I know this because of page 143 it said, “I am not old yet, but at 15 I no longer feel young.” This made me feel so terrible for Mateo because he is only 3 years older than me. Yet he is in landslides, fights, prison, hospitals, etc.
Anita Henry and others are in terrible danger. The condition of the Panima Canal is harsh and deathly.

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Why is the text called Silver People( the voices from the Panama Canal)?

In the book Silver People it is important to know the perspective’s of each person. For example if you just heard Mateo’s perspective you wouldn’t know how an herb girl(Anita) felt with people crushing her home! Or maybe the director of the whole thing, tourists, president, etc. You wouldn’t know why the Panama Canal was made! Well back to the book the text is called Silver People because the main, main characters are people who work for silver. Death is waiting around every corner but they only earn silver. Less than 20 cents an hour is apparently good enough for non full American people. The full Americans get; gold, nice beds, houses, less deathly jobs, more attention and even a better hospital!  It is so segregated that it like the Civil Rights Movement all over again! For people like Mateo and Henry they have misquote trimmed cots, and when one of them dies others just let it slide of their shoulder. For example I will read a back to back chapter with Mateo first, then Henry. The text says, “Each explosion is more risky than the last. Layers of mud between layers of stone are shoveled by Jamaicans, while we bend, heave, lift, groan, pray, and slip, down,down ,down,shoved by a mudslide, pushed toward death.

HENRY...

BURIED

Mud all around me, beneath and above, mud that boils roars and rumbles, crushes my breath, steals my voice, mud that covers my future, and buries me in gloom.” Of course Henry was saved by Mateo but no one with more power stoped to help. They just let him die there. Also with Square Foot Smith he is so rude to them. As you can see the text says, “ When reporters ask me about the conditions for silver men, I explain that the dark races are ignorant- they prefer to live in boxcars or out in the jungle, so there’s no point in giving them extra clothes or dry blankets. They will just get everything dirty.” That right there is the biggest lie I have heard in the book and Square Foot Smith knew that. He just didn’t want to get in trouble with the government. In my opinion to stop the lies from starting or keep going they should interview the workers. Not just gold men. They should interview Anita. After all they burst into HER home. And people like Mateo and Henry. Who literally have nothing. As brutal as it seams that is why the book is called Silver People. With my whole heart I hope that the people who have nothing get a real home in the end!

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How has the charactors changed?

The charactors have changed because at one point Henry wanted to have things for his family and would do anything but now all he wants is a chair. On page 37 the text stats,”Back home I used to dream of saving enough Panama money to buy a bit of good farmland for Momma and my little brothers and sisters so that we would all have plenty to eat. Now all I want is a chair And food with some spice And fair treatment. Justice.” The Americans worked them so hard that instead of things for his family all Henry wanted was a chair.

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Where does the story take place? why is that important?

The story takes place in Panama, by/in the jungle in 1906. That’s important because it was the start of the building of the Panama Canal. It was when people were learning how unfair the situation was.Also the fact that it was 1906 helped that they didn’t know modern medicine and remedies so Anita sold herbs that supposedly cured things. On page 51 the text stats,”as she sings willow bark for pain, basil stems for peace of mind goosefoot epazote leaves to charm gas out of beans...” Also only a few vehicles were able to be used and made in the forests. Also buy then America was getting a bigger ego because we thought we were the best and could do anything. According to the text on page 43,”If I could only hire white Americans,I would but they don’t want the shovel jobs and they won’t work for silver.” By then we were getting a bigger ego.

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Why did the author name the text Silver People Voices from The Panama Canal?

Margarita Engle named the book Silver People Voices from the Panama Canal because that’s what the non fully and not at all Americans were unfairly paid. The full  white Americans got gold for doing the least well Silver People were paid the least for doing the most.On page 40-41 the text stats,”While beside us at the GOLD window a shot swiftly moving row of Americano foreman and steam shovel drivers hold ou big floppy cowboy hats to catch a shower of gold. Gold. Just like the bell-bright coins in the recruiters magic show of metallic music. When my turn finally comes I hold out a cupped palm to receive a moon glossy trickle of silver. My pay amounts to a mere 20 cents per hour of spirit crushing  misery.” This book is about what happens while building the Panam Canal. So that means it’s going to talk about what unfair things the Americans did the pay was one of them.

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Why do you infer Americans thought nergos/ colored people were far less superior and shouldn’t be treated like humans?

I think that Americans treated colored people like nothing because they thought because they weren’t ‘perfect whites’ they were animals. On page 151 the text stats,” When reporters ask me about conditions for silver men, I explain that the dark races are ignorant- they prefer to live in boxcars or out in the jungle, so there’s no point in giving them extra clothes or dry blankets they would just get everything dirty.” The full American white men assumed what they wanted without consulting them first. I know that because accorrding to the text on page,” It’s like the sugar fields at home where Englishmen own land and medium dark foreman supervise while men like me have to chop chop chopwith  sharp machetes that make us feel like slaves.” The whites think that it isn’t slavery but it’s one step beyond it

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How was Mateos point of view different from Henry’s point of view?

Mateo’s point of view isn’t very different from Henry’s point of view because they are both silver people who don’t think their work conditions are fair. Both Henry and Mateo fell the pain of their work. On page 70 the text stats,” Bend. Lift. Heave. Grunt. Ache. Howl! Escape the pain by imagining the friendly herb girl with her necklace of feathers and wings...” That was Mateo day-dreaming to get rid of the pain. For Henry, accorrding to the text on page 71,” I’m so sick of rain,mud, shovels and the SILVER pay window! I hate seeing the bloodied face of the loser boy at payday fights. Why does he keep trying to beat me? He never wins any share of the bets. Can it be maybe he’s exactly like me feeling a little bit crazy from all this bitter  bitter Panama Craze?”That shows they are both being affected by Americans. They are different Henry came into the trap/craze to get money for his family. Well Mateo came to start a new life and escape from his father. Accorrding to the text on page 69,”I’ve never had a chance to go to school. If I send enough silver home will my little brothers and sisters be able to study? Maybe one of them will even grow up to be a teacher or nurse. That would make all my Serpent Cut suffering worthwhile.” Henry doesn’t care that Serpent Cut might be deadly all he cares about is his family. Yet Mateo only has his dad who is war caused crazy so he went to earn money to leave. The text stats on pages 4-5,” I’m only 14 but I’m strong for a starving boy. So I shove and curse along with a crowd of muscular men all of us equally eager to reach a fast talking americano Panama Canal recruiter who promises food houses and money.” Niether men’s wishes entirely came true.

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What word best describes the main character? Why?

Many words can best describe Mateo. But out of all of them, the main one is that he is strong. Not just physically strong but mentally strong also. Strong enough to sign up for this brutal work. Stroung enough to two live with his psychotic father. And strong enough to run away. According to the text,”Where I beg for work, any work at all, any escape to carry me far from my father’s fuirious fists.” He lifts and moves train tracks all day, with no break. On page 33, it says,” But days of lifting and moving heavy train tracks are so exhausting and painful that I feel as though I’m being swallowed and chewed by a monster made of living breathing hungry mud.” Mateo has to live with a harsh life. His father, poverty, and a very overworking job. But he’s not the only one. Hundreds of other, desperate for anything, are just as overworked. Just imagine working at the Panama Cannal. What do you think you would do? Whould you try to run away? Or would you just deal with the work?

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How is the character feeling in this part of the story? Why?(Mateo)

At the beginning of the story Mateo was looking for work, and because he was looking for so long he was kind of sad. I know this because on page 3 he says, “- down to the seashore, where I beg for work, any day, all day-.” And then when he found for work he was excited from all the money he think he will get. I know this because on page 7 it said, “Those musical coins lure me deeper into the crowd of pushing, rushing, desperate, job-hungry strangers-.” He also says, “Lacy curtains and tablecloths, flowers in vases, plates heaped with food... So much food.” But once he got there a few weeks in he wants to go home, and he starts trying to sneak out. He does this because he realizes that it is not what he expected and he does not good food and a lot of money. I know he was trying to sneak out because on page 39 it said, “So I sneak away at night, planning to find my way back to the docks, hopping to board any ship headed home... but I get caught by a policeman and dragged back to my boxcar, where all of us are warned that it’s too late for escape. We signed contracts.” He also said about low pay on page 41 it said, “My pay amounts to mere twenty cents per hour of spirit-crushing misery. Another example of unequal pay was on pay day only a few non whites were in the gold line.

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Explain how the character’s thoughts  and actions help the reader understand him/her. (Mateo)

Mateos thoughts and actions help us understand him because if we didn’t know his thoughts and actions you probably wouldn’t know what kind of person he is and why he does and feels certain things. One example is you wouldn’t know why he truly is working there, he is there to get away from his father and he wants money. I know this because on page 3 it said, “- any escape to carry me far from my fathers furious fist.” You also wouldn’t know why he was arrested, he was arrested for being part of a protestgroup. I know he was arrested because on page 90 it says, “- one night, during a lightning storm, police break into the boxcar and awaken us with clubs, beating us, then dragging us away to prison.”

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Why did the author write this passage?

I think the author wrote Silver People because she wanted to show everyone especially Americans what happened well building the Panama Canal. I said she wanted to show the Americans because she wanted to tell us how much grueling people killing work we put them through. We put them through lies, deaths, injuries and slavery. I think lies because on page 6 the text stats,”After a confusing map there are pamphlets with  pictures of tidy houses, the orderly dining rooms offering comforting details that catch my eye. Lacey curtains and table cloths , flowers in vases, plates heaped with food... So much food.” But then on page 17 to show their lying the text stats,”Each group is led to another train car this one is completely motionless inside we find twelve cots draped with lacy mosquito nests and twelve blue shirts twelve khaki trousers twelve pairs of work boots...some men grumble and curse but others laugh at their foolishness did we really believe that we would live in nice houses like the ones we saw in that tricky recruiters pretty pictures of dining rooms with table cloths and tables?” The recruiters lied to get men to do their labors. To show us what happened even though we thought slavery was over

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What word describes the main character? Why?

Many words can best describe Mateo. But out of all of them, Strong. Mentally strong. He was strong enough to sign up for the cruel and brutal work that he was tricked into signing up. Strong enough to live with his crazy father that would try to punch and hit. And strong enough to run away. According to the text it says,”Where I beg for work, any work at all, any escape to carry me far from my fathers furious fists.”He is also physically strong. He lifts train tracks all day. On page 33 it says,”But the day of lifting and moving heavy train tracks are so exhausting and painful that I feel as though I’m being swallowed and chewed by a monster made of living breathing hungry mud.” Mateo has too live with a harsh life, his father, poverty, and a very overworking job. But he’s not the only one, hundreds of others, and desperate for anything. Are just as overworked. Just imagine working at the “Land of many butterfly’s” What do you think you would do. Try to run away, or stay

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How do you think the character is feeling in this part of the story? Why?

The character, (Mateo) and other characters are really regretting their decision of going to work to make the Panama Cannal. He felt like he was forced into slavery, so he tried to escape his brutal work, but it was to late. All the workers had sign a contract. So that if they tried to escape, they would be imprisoned and chained. For example,” So I sneak away at night, planning to find my way back to the docks, hoping to board any ship headed home. . . But I’m caught by a police man and dragged back to my boxcar, where all of us are warned that it’s to late to escape. We signed contracts. If we break them, we’ll be arrested and chained.” These people are way underpaid. They only 10-20 cents an hour for the work, digging and digging. However, the americans are gold, just for watching them work. According to the text, it states,” The payroll office is just a train car with two windows and two signs: GOLD. SILVER. My first two english words. Our whole crew waits in a slow, snaking line that leads to the silver sign, while besides us at the gold window, a short, swiftly moving row of americano forman and steam shovel drivers hold out big, floppy cowboy hats to catch a shower of gold. Gold. Just like the bell-bright coins in that recruiter’s magic show of metallic music. When my turn finally comes, I holdout a cupped palm to receive a moon-glossy of silver. My pay amounts to a mere 20 cents per hour of spirit crushing misery.” Already he can see that he has been tricked into this misery. I cannot see how Mateo can go through this “bone cracking” work. I don’t think I would last a day of that work. What would you do in Mateo’s situation? Would you try to escape? Or would you do the work?

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Why did the author name the text, Silver People Voices from the Panama Canal?

The author named the text, Silver People Voices from the Panama Canal because you get different voices or perspectives mainly of people who only get silver, no gold. So they are called silver people, even in the book they are. And the gold people are only white Americans, you get some of their voices to. And the silver people are everybody else, and they get less pay for working way harder and at risk of death at any moment. Unlike the Americans they sit around more than work, and they get paid more. I know they get gold because on page 40 it says, “Our whole crew waits in a slow, snaking line that leads to the SILVER sign, while beside us at the GOLD window, a short, swiftly moving row of americano foremen and steam shovel drivers hold out big, floppy cowboy hats to catch a shower of gold.” And I know they are always near death because on page 87 it says, “Mud all around me beneath and above mud that boils roars and rumbles crushes my breath steals my voice mud that covers the future and buries me in gloom.” Another unfairness of pay is on page 144 it says, “So much of the silver I earn goes right back to the Americans as payment for my cot in the barracks and payment for those shameful, no-taste, stand-up-in-mud, spineless meals.” So in my opinion almost nobody benefited from the Panama Canal except the rich. And in the book they even built nice fancy houses that the workers should have gotten instead of boxcars. The rich people watched the workers suffer and even die from those fancy houses. Therefore we shouldn’t have even built the Panama Canal, and that is why the book is called Silver People Voices of the Panama Canal.

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What is the meaning of, “Suddently life seems as changeable as a clearwing  butterfly that appears green when it rests on a leaf, brown on a twig, or blue in a cloudless sky.” What clues helped you determine the meaning?

This phrase means a lot. I believe it means that life can change ang second and you don’t always expect it. One minute Mateo was looking for a job, the next he signed up to dig the Panama Cannal. He had been tricked into doing a brutal and cruel job. According to the text it states,” So I shove and curse along with the crowd of muscular men, all of us equally eager to reach a fast-talking americano Panama Cannal recruiter who promises food, houses, and money, ... so much money.” But right when they get to Panama, they realized their mistake.Tere are clues that helped determine the meaning. First of all it is a simile. Once a clearwing  butterfly lands on a twig, it changes fast to the twigs color. When it lands on a leaf, it changes to the color of that leaf. That’s how fast life can change. For instance,” ...as a clearwing  butterfly appears green when it rests on a leaf, brown on a twig, or blue in a cloudless sky.” What would you feel like if you work at the Panama Cannal? Whould you want to be a clearwing  butterfly?

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“-floppy cowboy hats to catch a shower of gold.” A “shower of gold” means that they got a lot of gold that just kind of trickled out. And the water from a shower was like the gold. I think they used this phrase to show how much gold the Americans got instead of just saying, “They got a lot of gold.”

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What is the structure of the story? How do you know?

We believe the structure of Silver People could, be problem and solution.THe main problem is the treacherous work they do every day. Eventually that problem was solved when the Panama Cannal was finished. Henry ran away to a native tribe. While Mateo and Anita went to the mountains and got married. The text states,” Nights of anarchy are terrifying, but days of lifting and moving heavy train tracks are so exhausting and painful that I feel as though I’m being swallowed and chewed by a monster made of living breathing hungry mud.” On page 36, it states,” My hands feel like scorpion claws, clamped on to a hard shovel all day, then curled into fists at night. At dawn, the steaming labor trains deliver us by thousands, down into that snake pit where we dig until my muscles feel as weak as water and my backbone is like shattered glass.” When the Panama Cannal was finally finished, they let everybody go. According to the text,” Last year, when all the digging finally ended, this entire forest was flooded—trees drowned, crate towns vanished, and at least fifty thousand silver people had to flee for their lives along with native villagers and all the wildlife, including desperately swimming jaguars and flailing, hooting, howling monkeys....” What would you do in a situation like Mateo, Henry, or Antina? Whould you do the same thing as they did or would you do something else?

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Where does the story take place? Why is that important?

The story takes place at the Panama Canal in the year 1906. This is important because the government was in charge of building the Panama Canal and they didn’t treat the people right. For example they only gave the white Americans respect and good treating, and they gave the others hard and brutal work in a harsh inviorment. I know it is harsh conditions because on page 87 it says, “Mud all around me beneath and above mudthat boils roars and rumbles crushes my breath steals my votive mud that covers the future and buries me in gloom.” Another example of harsh conditions is on page 111 it said, “Heat rages and dust slides, leaving spidery cracks in the hard soil.” And I know that it is brutal work because on page 66 it said, “After Another agonizing day of bending to lift ponderous train tracks, my back feels as twisted as a tangled vine in the jungle.” And last an example of bad treatment to them and good to white Americans on page 111 it says, “Towering trees are chopped down to build more and more railroad tracks, more gold houses, silver barrack, and fancy hotels, so that tourists can stare down in elegant safety from the high, sturdy rim of our danger. As they watch our dust muscles, can they see our weary dreams?”

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How does Mateo’s point of view different from Henry’s point of view?

Mateo’s point of view is different from Henry’s because they have different jobs, other than that they are very alike. Mateo is a train track  builder, and Henry is a digger, and at the end he sprays animals and plants with toxic. I know Mateo works with train tracks because on page 34 it says, “We line up beside a muddy train track that we are expected  to shift deeper and deeper and deeper as the serpent cut grows more hellish-.” And I know Henry is a digger for the most part because on page 36 Henry’s “chapter” name is, “The Life of a Digger.” And I also know he was a spray killer because on page 187 it says, “When I’m suddenly transferred to a fumigation crew, I feel as though I’ve been delivered from misery.” So the perspectives of what they do for the Panama Canal is different but the harsh and brutal ness is the same. I know this because on page 39 Mateo says, “The life of a train-track mover is grueling. Exhausting. Painful. Dull.” And I know it is the same for Henry because on page 36 it said, “My hands feel like scorpion claws, clamped on to a hand shovel all day, then curled into fists at night.” Another similarity is the unequal pay. I know it’s unequal for Henry because on page 42 it said, “Then our turn comes, and we and we hold out eager hands, palms cupped to receive ten cents per hour.” And I know Mateo’s pay is unequal because on page 41 it says, “My pay amounts to a mere twenty cents per hour-.” In my opinion they have very similar perspectives, and that’s why they’re good friends, even though they have different jobs, different backgrounds, and different languages they accept each other. They were even friends when they were adults, even though they lived a decent way apart. I wish others could do this or could have.

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Is telling this story in first person point of view effective? Why or Why not?

Telling this story in first person point of view very effective. It lets you know what the characters are feeling in their situations. I found this book very fun to read because of it. THe author did a great job of writing this book in first person. You were always getting feelings from the characters. For instance, the text states,” Nights of imagining anarchy are terrifying, but days of lifting and moving heavy train tracks are so exhausting and painful that I feel as though I”m being swallowed and chewed by a monster made of living breathing hungry mud. Each morning after breakfast, a labor train steams us down, down, down, into the depts of an excavation pit called Culebra—“the Serpent.” My doom.” THis was Mateo’s point of view. He is a train track mover, while Henry is a digger. According to the text, it states,” My hands feel like scorpion claws, clamped to a hard shovel all day, then curled into fists at night. At dawn, the steaming labor trains deliver us by thousands, down into that snake pit where we dig until my muscles feel as weak as water and my backbone is like shattered glass. But only half the day is over.” As you can see, telling this story in first person is effective. Do you think this story would be better written in third person? Or do you think it is better in first person like it is?