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SAT Reading: Why Does Thoreau Use the Phrase "Mechanical Aids" in this Passage? 58 Views


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Description:

Thoreau was all about simplicity; anything that took away from his vision was the enemy. Mechanical aids were one of them. Guess he had to train a squirrel to scratch his back.


Transcript

00:02

we're gonna read the rose passage here but guess what we're only gonna skim the

00:06

first paragraph I wasn't really having handled anything honest leading backing

00:11

with no billing endeavors on me let me picture a new employee that was the [man rapidly reading passage]

00:13

first paragraph so now we're cruising down here to the question and it asks

00:17

the rogue uses the phrase mechanical aids in prepare rapid passage by cables

00:20

or no electric charge all right well here the correct answer is C introduce [man boxing]

00:25

the conflict between modern convenience in simple living so it's just the

00:29

introduced conflict don't get all uptight some people don't need an alarm

00:32

clock to wake up because well if they have 12 cats hi Todd who all expect [kittens crawling on womans bed while she sleeps]

00:36

breakfast at 5:00 a.m. well our pal Thoreau isn't literally

00:39

talking about using something mechanical like an alarm clock to wake up in the

00:43

morning though the most obvious clue well it's all the figurative language [Thoreau looking through magnifying glass]

00:46

that follows like infinite expectation of the dawn paint the very atmosphere

00:51

all right well this first paragraph sirs is an introduction if the Rose claimed

00:55

that people should live simply and deliberately he primarily talks about

00:59

how great it is to elevate life by a conscious endeavor but he sneaks in the

01:04

mention of forsaking mechanical aids in order to set up the conflict between

01:08

simple living and its primary enemy modern convenience over those modern

01:13

conveniences yeah the row obviously doesn't think people need mechanical [thoreau holding an iPhone]

01:16

aids but there's nothing in the first paragraph that's specifically down on

01:20

modern convenience Oh get rid of a he saves all his negativity for later to

01:24

start off with while he's really excited about elevating his life also other than [Thoreau waiting in an elevator]

01:29

suggesting that they might force to take up soon or sound asleep yeah maybe his

01:33

alarm clock broke and he missed out on the class camping trip what do you think

01:37

well the first paragraph isn't really about eating on modern convenience all

01:41

the figurative language in the first paragraphs good clue that he's not [sun rises over city skyline]

01:44

talking literally about methods of waking up in the morning

01:47

you got enough that with our snoring cats here [cats snoring in bed]

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