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Information and IdeasVery hardQuotation illustrating a subtle claim about tone

Information and Ideas practice question

A critic argues that in her memoir the author describes her years of poverty without self-pity, treating hardship as a matter of fact rather than of grievance.

Which quotation from the memoir most effectively illustrates the critic's claim?

  1. A. "We had one pair of boots between the three of us, so we went to school in turns, and the one at home did the reading aloud. It was a system. It worked."Correct
  2. B. "No one who has not been poor can imagine how we suffered, or how unfairly."
  3. C. "I have never forgiven the people who let us go without."
  4. D. "The winters were long, and I remember them with dread."

Answer: A. "We had one pair of boots between the three of us, so we went to school in turns, and the one at home did the reading aloud. It was a system. It worked."

Shared boots reported as 'a system' that 'worked': hardship as fact, no grievance.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. "No one who has not been poor can imagine how we suffered, or how unfairly."
Suffering and unfairness: self-pity and grievance.
C. "I have never forgiven the people who let us go without."
Grievance.
D. "The winters were long, and I remember them with dread."
Dread is emotional, not matter-of-fact.

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