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AP English Language and Composition 1.5 Comprehension 251 Views


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AP English Language and Composition: Comprehension Drill 1, Problem 5. The principal analogy the speaker makes in the passage is between what and what?

Language:
English Language
Common Core Standards:

Transcript

00:00

[ musical flourish ]

00:03

And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by mud pies,

00:06

the breakfast of champions.

00:08

Well, four-year-old champions, anyway.

00:10

All right, well, check out the following passage.

00:12

Blah, blah, blah... [ mumbles ]

00:17

[ mumbling continues ]

00:23

[ further mumbling ]

00:29

[ more mumbling ]

00:37

All right, here we go.

00:38

The principal analogy the speaker makes in the passage is between

00:41

what and what? And here are the potential answers.

00:47

And let's go.

00:49

An analogy is a comparison between two ideas or things.

00:52

They're usually a little more complicated

00:54

than similes and metaphors,

00:55

which are also in the comparison business.

00:57

In fact, similes and metaphors are often part of

01:00

a larger analogy.

01:01

Here's an example.

01:03

We start with a simple simile: life is like a monkey.

01:06

But then it gets more complicated.

01:07

Sometimes it smiles and gives you hugs.

01:10

But other times it randomly bombards you with poop.

01:13

Boom. Analogy.

01:15

Well, let's take a look at what analogy our speaker is making.

01:18

The key here is that the question is looking for the overarching

01:21

analogy of the entire passage,

01:23

so anything that's too specific can go.

01:26

Choices A and B are both easy to eliminate for this reason.

01:29

Both mention architecture as a main point of comparison.

01:32

While the author does give a shout-out to the Romans

01:34

for their architectural innovation, the passage

01:36

isn't all that concerned with architecture in general.

01:39

Oh. 'Cause this isn't worth your time. [ buzzer ]

01:42

We can get rid of choice D, as well.

01:43

To the disappointment of Sunday school teachers everywhere,

01:46

the author doesn't mention spirituality

01:48

anywhere in the passage.

01:49

And I tried so hard with him... [ buzzer ]

01:52

Option C is the closest so far. The complicated relationship

01:55

between the art and the artist is discussed,

01:58

but there's something bigger going on in this passage.

02:00

It's like she doesn't even see me anymore.

02:02

[ buzzer ] The correct answer is E.

02:04

The author takes us through all this goo-zum-goo

02:07

mud pie talk to set up the analogy that

02:10

nations are not different from children.

02:12

He's not saying that nations act like kids,

02:14

though that's probably true, as well.

02:16

Instead, the author is saying that Western civilization's

02:19

relationship with art

02:20

waxed and waned in the same way a kid's does.

02:24

We were all primitive with it in the caveman days,

02:26

perfected our skills with the Greeks, then had to grow up

02:29

and focus on practical things during the Roman era.

02:32

Personally, we take caveman mudpie over Roman era

02:35

boring job any day.

02:38

[ splat ] [ groan ]

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