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SAT Reading 2.3 Long Passages 173 Views
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Description:
Reading Long Passages: Drill 2, Problem 3
- Foreign Language / Spanish Subtitled
- Foreign Language / Korean Subtitled
- Foreign Language / Arabic Subtitled
- Foreign Language / Chinese Subtitled
- Rhetoric / Analyzing purpose
- Product Type / SAT Math
- Reading Literature / Analyze how author’s choices in structure create mystery, suspense, or surprise
- Reading Literature / Analyze how author’s choices in structure create mystery, suspense, or surprise
- Reading closely / Understanding relationships
Transcript
- 00:03
Shmoop, it's what's for dinner.
- 00:06
Well, well, well... look who's here again.
- 00:07
If you want to read this passage one more time, just hit pause.
- 00:33
In describing his aunt's figure, as he remembers it, as "at once pathetic and grotesque", the
- 00:38
narrator draws attention to the contrast between...what?
Full Transcript
- 00:42
And here are the potential answers...
- 00:48
What does it mean to call someone "pathetic"
- 00:50
and "grotesque"? Hint: don't try these words out on your big crush...
- 00:55
We'd like to pause this colossal dating blunder to point out that "pathetic" refers
- 01:00
to someone who inspires pathos, or pity and sympathy.
- 01:03
"Grotesque," on the other hand, means...well, gross or ugly.
- 01:07
Knowing these definitions helps us to eliminate some of the answer choices immediately.
- 01:12
We don't want to rain on its parade...
- 01:14
But we know, for example, that choice (D) is wrong.
- 01:16
There's some talk about how the Nebraska weather has affected poor grotesque Auntie
- 01:21
G, but it's not directly referenced in this line.
- 01:25
The line doesn't mention how Uncle Howard feels about his wife, so choice (E) is kind of random.
- 01:30
And wrong... so so wrong. By all accounts, young Aunt Georgiana was
- 01:35
neither pathetic nor grotesque before Uncle Howard came along...
- 01:40
Therefore (B) can't be correct.
- 01:42
While Aunt Georgiana might not have been worn down in her youth, she was already deteriorating
- 01:47
when the narrator was a kid.
- 01:49
Though he does talk about how she's gotten worse over time, it doesn't apply to this
- 01:54
line. We can't go with (C) either.
- 01:56
This leaves us with choice (A), which perfectly captures the idea that while the narrator
- 02:00
feels sorry for his aunt, he can't help but be a little grossed out by her.
- 02:04
This unfortunate situation perfectly fits with our definitions of "pathetic" and "grotesque."
- 02:09
Two words that should be used with great caution.
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