Then the second-graders line up for the thirty-yard dash and I don't even bother to turn my head to watch cause Raphael Perez always wins. He wins before he even begins by psyching the runners, telling them they're going to trip on their shoelaces and fall on their faces or lose their shorts or something, which he doesn't really have to do since he is very fast, almost as fast as I am. Read the passage. Then explain how Raphael is characterized based on the way Squeaky describes him.

Sample Response: Raphael does not believe in fair play. He could win just by running, but he chooses to psych out the other runners to get an advantage. Still, he's not as fast as Squeaky is.

Raphael Perez is characterized as someone not only fast (almost as fast as Squeaky, the narrator) but also willing to use psychological warfare to inflict doubt and fear on his competitors even before the race actually begins.

He does this by cleverly bringing attention to a number of potential pitfalls that his track competitors might run into or encounter, regardless of the fact that some of these pitfalls are quite hilarious and probably very unlikely to happen during the actual race.