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Analyze how complex characters develop and interact Videos 5 videos
ACT Reading 1.8 Prose Fiction. Why does the author spend so much time discussing the anecdote of the old woman?
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ACT Reading 1.8 Prose Fiction 275 Views
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Description:
ACT Reading 1.8 Prose Fiction. Why does the author spend so much time discussing the anecdote of the old woman?
- Foreign Language / Arabic Subtitled
- Foreign Language / Chinese Subtitled
- Foreign Language / Korean Subtitled
- Foreign Language / Spanish Subtitled
- Reading / Generalizations
- Product Type / ACT Reading
- Literary Fiction / Isolated Scenes
- Reading Literature / Analyze how complex characters develop and interact
- Reading Literature / Analyze how complex characters develop and interact
- ACT Reading / Author's Voice and Method
Transcript
- 00:04
Here's your Shmoop du jour...
- 00:05
If you'd like to review the passage, just hit pause and go for it. We'll be over here if you need us...
- 00:26
Why does the author spend so much time discussing the anecdote of the old woman?
- 00:30
And here are some potential answers...
- 00:35
This passage is from a book called David Copperfield, not Some Old Biddy Who Bought a Caul.
Full Transcript
- 00:40
So why does Dickens spend so much time talking about this lady?
- 00:47
Does the anecdote, or little story, set a serious tone for the passage?
- 00:51
Not really. The whole thing is actually pretty funny.
- 00:56
Could it be B? Does the description of the old woman give us the scoop on the narrator's community?
- 01:02
Yeah, it definitely does. By going into details about the old lady, Dickens gives us a taste
- 01:07
of what the larger community is like.
- 01:09
We'll keep B in mind as we push on.
- 01:13
What about C? Is the old woman the narrator's grandmother?
- 01:17
Absolutely not. The narrator doesn't say that at all. Buh-bye, C.
- 01:21
OK, last one. Does the anecdote show how much the narrator hated the sea?
- 01:27
Nope, the narrator never says he hates the sea.
- 01:29
Looks like B is the only one that works. Dickens is just giving us a taste of the community.
- 01:34
And boy does it taste...um...British?
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