Read the excerpt from "The Fish I Didn't Catch." I made a strong pull, and brought up a tangle of weeds. Again and again I cast out my line with aching arms, and drew it back empty. I looked at my uncle appealingly. "Try once more," he said; "we fishermen must have patience."

A. How does the use of the word appealingly affect the meaning of the excerpt?

B. It shows that the boy understands why he has yet to catch a fish.

C. It shows that the boy is asking his uncle for advice.

D. It shows that the boy is blaming his uncle for his failure to catch a fish.

It shows that the boy is about to give up on fishing.

 should be certain that the lines provide clues about what will happen later on in the narrative.

This question can be tricky to answer. Immediately you should throw out option B. A personal narrative is a true story about someone's life which means there should not be any made-up details. Also, D can be thrown out. In the passage we've read so far there is no indication that it's necessary to prove that either man is educated. This leaves A and C as possibilities. C could be right because it is important for the scene to be real and natural, but that's because at one point the scene was real and natural. A is the most correct. Why? If this scene with the man boarding the bus and having a simple exchange with the bus driver did not reveal anything that might happen later, it should not be included in the story at all.