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AP English Language and Composition 1.7 Passage Drill 337 Views
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Description:
AP English Language and Composition: Passage Drill Drill 1, Problem 7. What is the principal rhetorical function of paragraphs one to three?
Transcript
- 00:00
[ musical flourish ]
- 00:03
And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by child nations,
- 00:06
where finger painting is a national pasttime.
- 00:09
All right, check out the following passage. It's a long one.
- 00:12
[ mumbles ]
Full Transcript
- 00:18
[ mumbling continues ]
- 00:23
Yeah, all right. A little vague, but let's roll.
- 00:26
The principal rhetorical function of paragraphs one to three
- 00:30
is to... what?
- 00:31
And here are the potential answers.
- 00:33
Read 'em... And pause, and think.
- 00:36
And let's go. All right. Rhetorical function?
- 00:39
Hmm. Sounds intimidating, but it's not as fancy as it seems.
- 00:43
All this question is asking is how the paragraphs help the speaker make his argument.
- 00:46
So, lucky for us, the author shoots straight from the hip.
- 00:50
The structure of the essay is pretty straightforward.
- 00:52
The speaker starts by giving us a scenario:
- 00:55
kids instinctively making art,
- 00:57
then having to give it up when responsibility rears its ugly head.
- 01:01
The speaker then states the primary argument:
- 01:03
nations are like children.
- 01:06
After that, he sets up parallel scenarios that
- 01:08
show how nations follow a similar developmental path
- 01:11
to children. Interesting idea.
- 01:14
Options C and E are both way off base.
- 01:16
The scenarios are examples that support the argument,
- 01:19
not contradictions or misconceptions.
- 01:22
Choice B doesn't make the cut, either.
- 01:24
The author doesn't bust out any solutions in the passage.
- 01:27
He's just telling us how he thinks the world works,
- 01:29
and, wow, what a know-it-all.
- 01:30
All right, D also doesn't work.
- 01:32
Sure, the idea of art-loving babies is cute,
- 01:34
until we have to clean up after them. But the speaker has something bigger on his mind.
- 01:39
The correct answer is A. The opening paragraph's most important
- 01:43
function is to connect the development of children to the development
- 01:46
of Western civilization as a whole.
- 01:48
And if you ask us, western civ is sort of just a big baby.
- 01:52
[ child noises ] [ splat ]
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