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Diction and Syntax Videos 11 videos

AP English Literature and Composition 1.3 Passage Drill 1
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AP English Literature and Composition 1.3 Passage Drill 1. In the context of the passage, what does the word "compass" in line 15 mean?

AP English Literature and Composition 1.6 Passage Drill 1
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AP English Literature and Composition 1.6 Passage Drill 1. To what idea does the phrase "my opinion" in line 49 refer?

AP English Literature and Composition 1.10 Passage Drill 1
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AP English Literature and Composition 1.10 Passage Drill 1. The speaker's diction in this passage serves to characterize him as which of the f...

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AP English Literature and Composition 1.9 Passage Drill 2 210 Views


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Description:

AP English Literature and Composition 1.9 Passage Drill 2. What does the word "want" mean in the context of line 20?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

A little birdie told us you wanted to answer a shmoopy question...

00:09

Hit pause and look over this passage. Oh, you know you want to...

00:33

What does the word "want" mean in the context of line 15?

00:37

And here are the potential answers...

00:40

Okay... so this question is asking for themeaning of a word... but it's not quite a vocab question.

00:45

We all know what the word "want" means... in fact, for many of us it was probably our

00:49

first word.

00:51

But this question is asking what the word means in the context of a line.

00:56

So we're going to need to read and interpret... Line 15 says: "it is a mere and miserable

01:02

solitude to want true friends; without which the world is but a wilderness..."

01:08

Our first answer choice is "desire," and certainly that is usually how we would define the word "want"...

01:15

...but is the answer really going to be that easy and obvious? Let's dig a little deeper...

01:20

Is the author saying it is miserable to desire true friends?

01:24

Not at all -- he thinks that desiring true friends is a good thing.

01:29

But "want" can also mean "lack"... as in, "Keanu Reeves is wanting for acting ability."

01:36

Which is option B... and it definitely makes sense. But let's check out the others just

01:40

to be sure... C has the same problem that A did... Bacon

01:44

would say that it's a positive thing to esteem friends...

01:47

...what about "eschew?" Gesundheit.

01:50

This word basically means to shun or steer clear of... which would apply that one already

01:55

had friends they wanted to avoid... and that doesn't go with Bacon's sentiment.

02:00

E -- burden? Nah... he's talking about needing friends, not burdening anyone.

02:05

Our answer is B.

02:07

We'll get you a Kleenex.

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