Read the excerpt from "Raymond's Run."
take my time getting to the park on May Day because the track
meet is the last thing on the program. The biggest thing on the
program is the May Pole dancing, which I can do without, thank
you, even if my mother thinks it's a shame I don't take part and
act like a girl for a change. You'd think my mother'd be grateful
not to have to make me a white organdy dress with a big satin
sash and buy me new white baby-doll shoes that can't be taken
out of the box till the big day. You'd think she'd be glad her
daughter ain't out there prancing around a May Pole getting the
new clothes all dirty and sweaty and trying to act like a fairy or a
flower or whatever you're supposed to be when you should be
trying to be yourself, whatever that is, which is, as far as I am
concerned, a poor Black girl who really can't afford to buy shoes
and a new dress you only wear once a lifetime cause it won't fit
next year.
How does the setting in the excerpt from "Raymond's Run"
affect Squeaky?
The fact that May Pole dancing is the focus of the
O May Day celebration annoys Squeaky because it
overshadows the importance of her race.
The May pole dancing makes Squeaky consider
O trying to act more like a girl to please her mother and
to fit in.
Squeaky cannot wait for the May Day celebration
O because it is the one time of the year she can be
herself.
Because her race is last on the program of the May
O Day celebration, Squeaky arrives to park early and
joins in the May Pole dance.