What does Zitkala-Sa use in this passage as evidence of her mistreatment

What is the meaning of the word checking as it is used in this sentence from the second paragraph of the passage?

How does hughes’ poem, “let america be america again,” represent the idea of the failure of the american dream?

Read this excerpt from the grapes of wrath: snub-nosed monsters, raising the dust and sticking theirsnouts into it, straight down the country, across thecountry through fences, through dooryards, and in and outof gullies in straight lineswhich best describes the tone in this passage