Notice that the first interval [-3,-1) is closed at -3 but open at -1, which means that when the value of [tex]x[/tex] is between -3 and -0.999... the value of [tex]f(x)[/tex] is -3; in other words the function for the first piece is:
[tex]f(x)=-3[/tex] , [tex]3\leq x\ \textless \ -1[/tex]
The second interval [-1,1) is closed at -1 but open at 1, which means that when the value of [tex]x[/tex] is between -1 and 0.999.. the value of [tex]f(x)[/tex] is -1; in other words, the function of the second piece is:
[tex]f(x)=-1[/tex] , [tex]-1 \leq x\ \textless \ 1[/tex]
We can conclude that the value of [tex]f(-1)[/tex] is -1.
