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AP English Language and Composition Videos 171 videos

AP English Language and Composition 1.2 Passage Drill
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AP English Language and Composition: Passage Drill Drill 1, Problem 2. What is the speaker's primary purpose in using onomatopoeia in line four?

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AP English Language and Composition 1.2 Passage Drill 842 Views


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Description:

AP English Language and Composition: Passage Drill Drill 1, Problem 2. What is the speaker's primary purpose in using onomatopoeia in line four?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:00

[ musical flourish ]

00:03

And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by goo-zum-goo,

00:07

baby talk on Earth, but the official language of Planet Gooz.

00:12

All right, we're skimming... We're skimming...

00:13

We're thinking... We're skimming... Now we're bored and we're done skimming.

00:18

The speaker's primary purpose in using onomatopoeia in line four is to, uh, what?

00:23

And here are the potential answers.

00:25

And onomatopoeia is not a toilet joke. All right, you done?

00:29

Okay, well onomatopoeia is when a word imitates a sound.

00:32

Examples include words like

00:34

"splash," "cuckoo,"

00:36

the slightly sinister "goo-zum-goo-zum-goo,"

00:39

which the speaker thinks sounds like the innocent cooing of a baby.

00:44

For the record, if we ever heard a baby talk this way,

00:46

we'd run for our neighborhood exorcist.

00:48

But, uh, that's a different story.

00:49

Anyway, the point of this question is to figure out why the speaker is using onomatopoeia here.

00:54

Choice A claims the speaker is going for a laugh with this goo-zum-goo business,

00:58

but we have a feeling the speaker has a better reason in mind.

01:00

Which is good because "goo-zum-goo" wasn't all that funny in the first place.

01:04

D seems like a no, as well.

01:06

The author doesn't highlight the fact that babies all over the universe

01:09

spend their days saying "goo-zum-goo."

01:10

Although, on the Planet Gooz, even the adults go around

01:13

saying it all day. Like, smell you later.

01:16

All right, to option C we say, "Are you serious?"

01:19

"Goo-zum-goo" doesn't sound at all harmonious,

01:21

and the speaker doesn't say anything to support that idea.

01:24

As for B, if anyone has a vivid memory of their murmurs at two months,

01:28

well, that's a whole different kettle of fish.

01:30

The correct answer is E.

01:32

In the first paragraph, the speaker says

01:34

"To grown-ups, this humming means nothing... but to the baby

01:37

it is perfect music."

01:39

So he's definitely trying to emphasize the gap between what

01:41

newborns and adults would think was a chart topper.

01:44

Some say the same discrepancy exists

01:46

with Justin Bieber songs.

01:48

[ cuckoo clock sounds ]

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