Ace the AP Lang Multiple Choice Reading Passage: Annotations & Answer Explanations

[@sofifiuh]

Hello! I love your videos, they help me to analyze well for the exam. I'm wondering if you recommend studying SAT/AP vocabulary in order to digest the text well? It's been hard at times. I'm not sure if that's a good use of my study time and if so, if you have any advice, resources and tips similar to that for students who struggle with the reading sections. Thank you!

[@MsPeerEditor]

Studying SAT/AP vocabulary can definitely help! However, I wouldn't spend too much time memorizing words and their definitions. The key is to practice deducing the meanings of words based on context clues, which is what the multiple choice section will ask you to do. I would recommend reading sample multiple choice passages, picking out words you don't know, and writing out your best guess for the definition. You can also practice this exercise using speeches from www.americanrhetoric.com/top100speechesall.html

[@sofifiuh]

@@MsPeerEditor Thank you so much!

[@anthonyj.crowley7361]

I hope the questions will be this difficulty 💀🙏 I got most of these luckily lol

[@DrMirrorball]

Did you answer them correctly before or after her personal answer? I usually only see the answer after her personal answer.

[@LinDerrick-gi1us]

Do you have any tips on how to begin understanding pieces of text that contain old language or confusing wordings. I have a hard time even figuring out the main idea and what their words are referring to. For example: this passage How easy is it to call rogue and villain, and that wittily! But how hard to make a man appear a fool, a blockhead, or a knave without using any of those opprobrious terms! To spare the grossness of the names, and to do the thing yet more severely, is to draw a full face, and to make the nose and cheeks stand out, and yet not to employ any depth of shadowing. This is the mystery of that noble trade, which yet no master can teach to his apprentice; he may give the rules, but the scholar is never the nearer in his practice. Neither is it true that this fineness of raillery is offensive. A witty man is tickled while he is hurt in this manner, and a fool feels it not. The occasion of an offense may possibly be given, but he cannot take it. If it be granted that in effect this way does more mischief; that a man is secretly wounded, and though he be not sensible himself, yet the malicious world will find it out for him; yet there is still a vast difference betwixt the slovenly butchering of a man, and the fineness of a stroke that separates the head from the body, and leaves it standing in its place. A man may be capable, as Jack Ketch’s1 wife said of his servant, of a plain piece of work, a bare hanging; but to make a male-factor die sweetly was only belonging to her husband. I wish I could apply it to myself, if the reader would be kind enough to think it belongs to me. One of the questions were In sentence 4, "that noble trade" refers to which of the following? A "to call rogue and villain" (sentence 1) B "to employ any depth of shadowing" (sentence 3) C "the scholar" (sentence 4) D "fineness of raillery" (sentence 5) E "The occasion of an offense" (sentence 7) While reading, I took the use of the word "that" noble trade to assume the noble phrase was referring to the calling of someone something and how it is a trade between its outside meaning and a possible underlying meaning. Because of that I chose A rather than the correct answer, D. Looking back, option D does sort of make sense to me but I would love for you to explain your thought process for this question.

[@LinDerrick-gi1us]

Any tips are appreciated :) Ty

[@MsPeerEditor]

This is definitely a tough passage! To break down archaic texts, first substitute simpler words in place of the author's language, then paraphrase the whole sentence. For example, the phrase "rogue and villain" means "a bad person," and "wittily" means "a funny or clever way." So we could paraphrase the 1st line as "It's easy to call someone a bad person, and in a funny or clever way." If you apply this technique to the rest of the passage, you can see that the writer is explaining that it's easy to call people names, but it requires far more skill to criticize or ridicule someone without using any outright insults. When you see the word "that" in the phrase "that noble trade," it's a signal to look at the prior sentences. The sentence right before starts with "To spare the grossness of the names," which is referring to the same idea as "that noble trade." What do these phrases have in common? They all refer to the art of sophisticated satire. The only other phrase that aligns with this meaning in the multiple choice options is "fineness of raillery."

[@LinDerrick-gi1us]

Thank you, sorry for the late reply but I don't check my youtube notification much since it usually distracts me. The idea of substituting words to make it simpler makes a lot of sense. I sometimes subconsciously do it but purposely applying it may make my understanding a lot better. Thanks again :)