16Hit1600
Craft and StructureHardFunction of a detail in a literary passage

Craft and Structure practice question

The following text is from a novel. After the funeral Jonas kept his father's workshop exactly as it was, down to the half-finished chair on the bench. Visitors assumed he meant to complete it. He did not. A finished chair would be a chair; an unfinished one was still his father, mid-sentence.

Which choice best describes the function of the phrase 'mid-sentence'?

  1. A. It suggests that the unfinished chair keeps Jonas's father present, as if he had only paused rather than gone.Correct
  2. B. It shows that Jonas's father was a talkative man.
  3. C. It indicates that the chair is poorly made.
  4. D. It implies that Jonas plans to finish the chair.

Answer: A. It suggests that the unfinished chair keeps Jonas's father present, as if he had only paused rather than gone.

Unfinished work as a paused speaker: the father still present.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. It shows that Jonas's father was a talkative man.
The phrase is figurative, not about speech.
C. It indicates that the chair is poorly made.
Quality is not the point.
D. It implies that Jonas plans to finish the chair.
'He did not' mean to complete it.

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