Identifying Themes in Literary Texts:
Question 1
Read the excerpt from "Friend or Foe?"

The other family members were shuttled up the basement stairs to a waiting bus. Davud’s stomach clenched, realizing they would soon be confined to an internment camp. The family’s teenage son, Filip, stared icily as he passed.
Davud continued staring at the floor, avoiding Filip’s eyes. He knew the intelligence that the army had collected named this family as spies, a dangerous undertaking. But it was hard to picture the boy Davud had played with as the enemy....
Based on the context, what is the meaning of the word internment?
Select one:

Work.

Prison.

Debtors.

Mining.
Friend or Foe?


Story


The Bosnian War took place between 1992 and 1995 in response to the breakup of Yugoslavia. It was primarily an ethnic conflict, as Bosniaks, Serbs, Croats, and the Yugoslav army fought for control over land.

Davud pounded the door of the home in Gorazde, pretending he didn’t recognize it. He didn’t want his fellow soldiers to see the doubt in his eyes, so he cast them toward the sidewalk. Just eighteen years old, Davud had enlisted in the Ground Forces of the Yugoslav People’s Army to fulfill his duty to the citizens of Yugoslavia. He swelled with pride each time he put on the uniform of his country.

The soldiers entered the house of the suspected Serbian spies, a house where Davud had once helped lay flooring and even played with the younger children who lived there. Once a home filled with the smells of freshly baked bread, the structure was now barely a house. The family huddled together, staring at the fighters with wide eyes. They had been living without water or electricity. A single battery-powered radio stood in the corner of a drab, dank room. The soldiers ahead of Davud roughly grabbed an old man he recognized as the grandfather. The other family members were shuttled up the basement stairs to a waiting bus. Davud’s stomach clenched, realizing they would soon be confined to an internment camp. The family’s teenage son, Filip, stared icily as he passed.

Davud continued staring at the floor, avoiding Filip’s eyes. He knew the intelligence that the army had collected named this family as spies, a dangerous undertaking. But it was hard to picture the boy Davud had played with as the enemy. And was he?

Lost in thought, Davud felt the soldier behind him lightly shove him in the direction of the door. Shaking off the feeling of uncertainty, Davud straightened and marched to the street above without casting a second glance at the house.