ShmoopTube

00:03

This above all: to thine own Shmoop be true.

00:17

In line 11, "pander to" most nearly means... what?

00:27

Digging into the context of the first passage will help us figure out the meaning of "pander."

00:32

And we're not talking about "pander bears."

00:35

Passage 1 focuses on the way Zora did her own thing despite what anybody thought.

00:40

So, we know that we're looking for a word that goes along with the idea that Hurston

00:45

wasn't afraid to disappoint other people's expectations.

00:49

This one might trick us if we weren't paying careful attention. The key is that we have

00:53

to take into account the word "not" in Line 11.

00:56

If Hurston tried NOT to ignore her critics, then that would mean she wrote the kind of

01:01

stuff they wanted her to write.

01:03

This is the opposite of the definition of "pander" that we're trying to find,

01:07

making choice (A)... NOT cool with us. The root word "critic" in "criticize"

01:13

reminds us that the word means to judge someone, or to point out his or her faults.

01:19

Zora didn't try NOT to criticize her critics, though. In fact, the quotes in the passage

01:25

show her directly criticizing them. "Humiliate" means to make a person feel

01:30

ashamed or foolish.

01:35

This one doesn't work either. We're looking for a word that gets across the idea that

01:39

Hurston didn't do what everybody thought she ought to do.

01:42

If you plug "mistake" into the sentence, it doesn't even make any sense.

01:47

Zora "tried not to mistake to the folks..."? Nah, this one's just wasting our time.

01:52

"Indulge" can mean to give in to the wishes of others.

01:58

Which is exactly what Zora Neale Hurston did NOT do. Looks like we've found our answer.

02:03

Now if only this pander bear would stop hugging us.

Full Transcript