ShmoopTube

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Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by the wheels on the bus. Like Congress, they

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just go 'round and 'round.

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What should replace the underlined portion below, if anything?

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Despite being late, I had also forgotten my backpack in the bus.

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"Being late" is not a great thing... and neither is forgetting a backpack; both kinda

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exist in the same slacker world.

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We have to keep this relationship in mind as we try to find the right transition word

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or phrase to connect these ideas.

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Choice (A) sets up the wrong relationship by using "despite." This word usually

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sets up some kind of contrast. "My grandma is cool, despite all the camouflage she wears,"

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would be an example.

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We're not in the market for contrast in this sentence, however, so (A) is off the

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table.

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(B) is incorrect because this sentence stands alone, not as an example.

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Something like this might have worked: "That kid was always slacking. For example, he was

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continually late and always forgot his backpack."

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We're trying to find the word or phrase that shows how these two things go together,

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not how one is an example of the other.

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Choice (C) is an incorrect usage of the transition "furthermore."

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"Furthermore" is what's known as a conjunctive adverb, not a disease, and it's typically used to relate

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two independent clauses to each other.

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Something like, "I was late; furthermore, I had forgotten my backpack," would be on

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the right track.

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The trouble here is that "being late" is not an independent clause, meaning that's

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it not a sentence that can stand on its own.

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Also, "furthermore" comes before the two ideas we're trying to connect, rather than

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in between them.

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(D) wins the day by using the prepositional phrase "in addition to," which correctly

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relates "being late" with the independent clause "I had also forgotten my backpack

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in the bus."

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Hey, at least there are worse times

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to be late.

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