It must be nice," she said. "it must be very nice. i wish women could do such things."

"it ain't the right kind of a life for a woman.

her upper lip raised a little, showing her teeth. "how do you know? how can you tell? " she said.

"i don't know, ma'am," he protested. "of course i don't know. now here's your kettles, done. you don't have to buy no new ones.

"how much? "

"oh, fifty cents'll do. i keep my prices down and my work good. that's why i have all them satisfied customers up and down the highway."

elisa brought him a fifty-cent piece from the house and dropped it in his hand. "you might be surprised to have a rival some time. i can sharpen scissors, too. and i can beat the dents out of little pots. i could show you what a woman might do."

he put his hammer back in the oily box and shoved the little anvil out of sight. "it would be a lonely life for a woman, ma'am, and a scarey life, too, with animals creeping under the wagon all night." he climbed over the singletree, steadying himself with a hand on the burro's white rump. he settled himself in the seat, picked up the lines. " you kindly, ma'am," he said. "i'll do like you told me; i'll go back and catch the salinas road." wagon turned and crawled out the entrance road and back the way it had come, along the river. elisa stood in front of her wire fence watching the slow progress of the caravan. her shoulders were straight, her head thrown back, her eyes half-closed, so that the scene came vaguely into them. her lips moved silently, forming the words "good-bye--good-bye." then she whispered, "that's a bright direction. there's a glowing there."

this passage implies that women in elisa’s time and place were

*seen as weak and dependent.

free to do whatever they chose.

restricted to safe, traditional roles.

easily fooled.

elisa’s attitude in this passage can be best described as
confident.

wistful.

challenging.

*all of the above

all of the following literary techniques are used in the excerpt above except

*repetition.

metaphor.

dialogue.

imagery.

i put a(*) next to my answers. for the !