Function of Contrasting Characters: Fiction/Drama Practice Test

In this excerpt from an original drama, two neighbors, Ms. Alvarez and Mr. Pike, meet in the hallway after a building-wide notice announces new security cameras.

MS. ALVAREZ: If a camera sees the stairwell, my daughter can come home without rehearsing her keys like a weapon.

MR. PIKE: If a camera sees the stairwell, the landlord sees my visitors and calls them ‘loitering.’

MS. ALVAREZ: Safety is not surveillance.

MR. PIKE: In this building, it becomes it.

MS. ALVAREZ: So we do nothing?

MR. PIKE: We do something that doesn’t turn us into suspects for existing.

What is the primary function of the contrast between Ms. Alvarez and Mr. Pike?

Read the following excerpt from an original drama set in a public library during a children’s story hour, after the kids have left and chairs are stacked.

LIBRARIAN JO: "We whisper because the room is shared. That's the rule."

PARENT TARA: "We whisper because we're trained to shrink. My kid should learn to take up space."

JO: "Space isn't the same as noise."

TARA: "And silence isn't the same as peace."

What is the primary function of the contrast between Jo and Tara?