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AP English Language and Composition 1.7 Passage Drill 337 Views


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AP English Language and Composition: Passage Drill Drill 1, Problem 7. What is the principal rhetorical function of paragraphs one to three?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:00

[ musical flourish ]

00:03

And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by child nations,

00:06

where finger painting is a national pasttime.

00:09

All right, check out the following passage. It's a long one.

00:12

[ mumbles ]

00:18

[ mumbling continues ]

00:23

Yeah, all right. A little vague, but let's roll.

00:26

The principal rhetorical function of paragraphs one to three

00:30

is to... what?

00:31

And here are the potential answers.

00:33

Read 'em... And pause, and think.

00:36

And let's go. All right. Rhetorical function?

00:39

Hmm. Sounds intimidating, but it's not as fancy as it seems.

00:43

All this question is asking is how the paragraphs help the speaker make his argument.

00:46

So, lucky for us, the author shoots straight from the hip.

00:50

The structure of the essay is pretty straightforward.

00:52

The speaker starts by giving us a scenario:

00:55

kids instinctively making art,

00:57

then having to give it up when responsibility rears its ugly head.

01:01

The speaker then states the primary argument:

01:03

nations are like children.

01:06

After that, he sets up parallel scenarios that

01:08

show how nations follow a similar developmental path

01:11

to children. Interesting idea.

01:14

Options C and E are both way off base.

01:16

The scenarios are examples that support the argument,

01:19

not contradictions or misconceptions.

01:22

Choice B doesn't make the cut, either.

01:24

The author doesn't bust out any solutions in the passage.

01:27

He's just telling us how he thinks the world works,

01:29

and, wow, what a know-it-all.

01:30

All right, D also doesn't work.

01:32

Sure, the idea of art-loving babies is cute,

01:34

until we have to clean up after them. But the speaker has something bigger on his mind.

01:39

The correct answer is A. The opening paragraph's most important

01:43

function is to connect the development of children to the development

01:46

of Western civilization as a whole.

01:48

And if you ask us, western civ is sort of just a big baby.

01:52

[ child noises ] [ splat ]

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