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Description:

Wishing upon a star may help you pass your AP English Language and Composition test, but answering this question would be a safer bet.


Transcript

00:00

[ musical flourish ]

00:03

And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by star navigation.

00:07

It's like GPS,

00:09

but without the nagging voice.

00:14

All right.

00:15

[ mumbles ]

00:23

Huxley...

00:25

[ mumbles ] Chessboard... chessboard...

00:30

All right, which of the following most accurately rephrases

00:33

Helps' observation about stars,

00:35

"Ah... elsewhere"?

00:37

Yeah, lines 34 through 38.

00:39

All right, and here are the potential answers.

00:41

Yeah, you can just read it for yourself.

00:42

We're not gonna mumble.

00:44

Okay, let's get to it.

00:45

Well, in the preceding sentence, the author explains

00:47

how contemplating the universe can give us

00:49

a more reasonable perspective on a terrible, horrible, no-good,

00:53

very bad day.

00:54

In the following sentence, the author says that

00:55

the stars' knack for therapy is a bigger deal than

00:58

their ability to guide ships.

01:00

Well, this is obviously a person who's never been lost at sea.

01:03

Choice A definitely does not get it.

01:06

Helps' main point isn't that the stars' morale boosting power is

01:10

lesser known than their power to help us navigate.

01:13

He's simply saying that the whole morale-boosting thing is more important.

01:17

Option D is a nice thought.

01:18

It'd be swell if everybody in the world would look up at

01:21

the stars and all be magically unified.

01:24

That's not what Helps is saying, though.

01:26

Even he is more of a pessimist than that.

01:28

Choice B and E are the closest we've had yet, but they take

01:31

the story too far.

01:33

They both seem to think that the stars have some kind of mind control

01:36

powers over human beings. Scary prospect.

01:38

Just imagine what they might make us do.

01:41

Actually, don't imagine that.

01:43

All right, in the end, choice C is the best answer.

01:45

"Navigation, shmavigation," says Helps.

01:48

The important thing is that the stars help us see that

01:51

our everyday concerns are nothing in the face of

01:53

the great, big everything that's all around us.

01:56

We bet if Helps were lost and starving at sea, he might

01:58

be a little less into deep thoughts

02:00

and a little more into finding the nearest port with fresh water

02:04

and a Denny's.

02:06

[ noise ]

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