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AP English Language and Composition 1.2 Persona, Tone, and Point of View 642 Views


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AP English Language and Composition: Persona, Tone, and Point of View Drill 1, Problem 2. In context, which of the following is the best interpretation of the word "condescension"?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:00

[ musical flourish ]

00:03

And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by all the king's men.

00:06

They've really been down on themselves since

00:08

that whole Humpty Dumpty situation.

00:11

Well, check out the following passage.

00:12

[ mumbles ]

00:19

[ mumbling continues ] Ugh, that was a mouthful. All right.

00:26

In context, which of the following is the best interpretation of

00:30

the word "condescension" in line ten?

00:33

Here are the potential answers.

00:35

[ mumbles ] Sounds like how we feel when we get our grades.

00:39

All right, so what's this question asking?

00:41

Well, it starts out with "in context,"

00:44

so, yeah, we can't just look up "condescension" in the dictionary.

00:48

Meaning we gotta check out the context in which we read the word, right?

00:51

So we're gonna need to figure out how it applies specifically to this passage.

00:55

All right, well, let's check out the lines in question.

00:58

"...two houses, assuming a tone of conscious superiority,

01:01

replied that they could receive no message from a prince

01:04

who had raised his standard against his parliament,

01:06

and had pronounced their general a traitor.

01:09

Charles (and his condescension may be taken as proof

01:11

of his wish to avoid hostilities)

01:13

offered to withdraw his proclamation, provided they on their part

01:17

would rescind their votes against his adherents." [ chuckles ]

01:20

Good thing we didn't go with the first dictionary definition,

01:23

because it really doesn't fit here.

01:26

No one is condescending to anyone else.

01:28

Not in the way we usually think of it, anyway.

01:30

If someone were being all snooty and talking down to a person

01:33

as if they were dirt on their shoe, well then, A - disdain

01:35

or E - haughtiness might work.

01:37

But it looks like we're dealing with a different version of the word here.

01:39

In this passage, the king is showing condescension because

01:42

he wants to avoid hostilities.

01:44

Okay, so, he's not a super fan of confrontation,

01:46

and he's acting in such a way that he doesn't have to

01:49

whip out the big guns if you know what we mean.

01:51

Then is he degrading people?

01:53

Well, in our experience, degradation isn't the best way to make nice with somebody.

01:57

Is he being humble?

01:58

Well, yeah, sorta. But the key here is that the king is yielding to the houses,

02:03

which takes a certain degree of humility,

02:05

but it's more of an example of acquiescence.

02:08

So, yeah, in this instance, "condescension" implies that someone is

02:11

acquiescing, or giving into another's wishes

02:14

or commands, answer D.

02:17

The king may be bummed that we're calling him out so badly,

02:19

but at least "doormat" wasn't one of the answer choices.

02:22

[ buzzer ]

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