Section: Literature and Composition

31) View Additional Information

How does the narrator's father differ from most dads?

1. He loves to eat snakes.
2. He works a side-job as an exterminator when he's not teaching college.
3. He's a college professor who loves to work outside with his hands.
4. He is squeamish around snakes and spiders, to the point that if one is intruding on the house or pool, he'll have his wife or daughter handle it.
5. He works from home.

While you could make a case for Answer 5, it's ultimately not the best answer because we have no way of knowing how many dads work from home. College professors on sabbatical don't have the market cornered on that. Answer 4 is best because that is an atypical reaction from a male adult confronted by the threat of a spider or snake.