Commentary on the Choices for Items 1-12: "My Garden" by
Mary Abigail Dodge (1862)
1. Answer = (D)
This item requires synthesis of the entire passage but is fairly
straightforward. The correct answer, (D), captures the speaker's
pride in being a woman ("I am a woman" is repeated several
times as an assertion) and a woman who writes. The word "pride"
makes this option stand out because it describes the tone of the
overall passage. Although the speaker explains her difficulties in
being recognized and valued, she does not discuss problems with
publication as described in choice (A). While she points out that
women's writing is often not taken seriously, she does not discuss
the "advisability of . . . careers in writing" in (B). Choice (C) is
attractive because it is half-true: she discusses her writing style,
but she does not describe its development. Like (A), (E) raises an
issue outside the passage: the speaker does not address what
inspired her writing.
2. Answer = (A)
Items that call attention to a word whose meaning seems clear
usually reflect an unusual use of the term. In this case, the closest
synonym to "clumsiness" is "awkwardness" -- in distracter (B) -but in context the meaning is not awkward, certainly not the
"awkwardness of a young boy." Analyzing this item's choices
requires including the sentence before the one containing the
word "clumsiness." The correct answer, (A), recognizes the
confusion of a reader who expects one thing (a man's voice) and
realizes it is a woman's. Choice (C) is attractive because it
articulates a point that the speaker makes in the passage; it is
not, however, an accurate description of the reference
"clumsiness" makes in this specific sentence. Both (D) and (E)
are external to the passage, which is not focused on the
displeasure or boredom that results from reading poor writing.
3. Answer = (A)
This item is similar to the previous one in that it's based on a term
whose meaning most exam-takers know, so they must look within
the passage to answer correctly. In context, the speaker is calling
for an end to the clumsiness that causes confusion by proper
identification -- rather than subterfuge or outright deceit -- of a
writer's gender; thus (A) is the correct answer. Choice (B) plays
on the general association of "christened" with religion, but the
speaker of this passage is not discussing religion. Both (C) and
(D) draw on associations of being "christened" with new
beginnings, yet this passage is not about launching a journey,
literal or metaphorical, or teaching writing. Option (E) is the least
likely to be correct because the speaker is calling for direct
disclosure, which is the opposite of force.
4. Answer = (D)
This item is simple in that it requires only close reading and
synthesis of the passage's second paragraph. In fact, the frame of
the opening and closing sentences might bring to mind the word
"undaunted." The speaker is confident, clear, and strong in her
recognition of the difference between others' perception of her
and her self-perception. No wonder that 91 percent of the
examinees chose (D) as the correct answer. The two different
perceptions might make option (B) attractive, but the speaker
clearly is not weighing them and certainly is not "torn between"
them. Choices (A), (C), and (E) indicate misreadings, though (A)
might appeal to a student who did not read beyond the word
"aware": the speaker is acutely aware of many things, but
revenge is not a part of her discussion.
5. Answer = (E)
This item might have been easier if the passage had read "that
arrow" instead of "the arrow" because the speaker refers directly
to the previous sentence in which "assumed superiority" "hurl[s]"
their "poisoned shafts" against her. Although it's not a good idea
for an exam-taker to ignore the other choices when one of the five
seems correct, the combination of "criticism" and "men" is so
completely correct that it would be tempting not to go through the
logic to exclude the others. Nonetheless, the most appealing
distracter might be (C) because the speaker's words "humble and
deprecating" (lines 34-35) suggest doubt, but a close reading
confirms that this reference is not about doubt. Both (A) and (B)
are external to the passage. Choice (D) is attractive only to the
nonchalant reader who associates the wound of an "arrow" with
"a painful memory," a common enough association, but not one
that is within the context of this passage.
6. Answer = (B)
This item requires the exam-taker to paraphrase the opening
sentence. This task is not likely to be difficult unless vocabulary,
such as "magnanimity," is a problem. The appearance of the word
"easily" in both the passage and the correct answer is an unusual
coincidence in an AP Exam; it is not a situation that students can
rely on. The word "repetition" appears in distracters (C) and (D),
as well as a synonym for "reiteration" in the passage, yet neither
(C) nor (D) is correct. Distracter (A) might appeal to students who
associate "magnanimity" with "generously," but the speaker does
not use the term to refer to her or anyone else's generosity. The
passage as a whole might suggest that (E) applies to the speaker,
but it is not the point she makes in her opening sentence.
7. Answer = (A)
Not surprisingly, this is the most difficult item in the set. It requires
drawing an inference from the long final paragraph about a
writer's purpose. A careful reading yields, first of all, an
understanding that the speaker is focusing on herself as she
makes a series of statements about her work: she has a "serious
style," she "march[es] straight on" with "keen eye and strong
hand," and she makes the "unmistakable assertion" that she is a
woman. The tone is assertive, and the content focuses on her
qualifications, so (A) is the correct answer. Choice (C) might be
tempting because the speaker does use analogies (for example,
the dyspeptic alderman, the hungry newsboy, the locusts and wild
honey), but that is also why it's incorrect: she uses several
analogies, not one "elaborate analogy," and the technique of
analogy is not her "primary purpose" in the paragraph. Option (B)
is a link with her call for honesty in acknowledging that a woman
is writing, but her primary purpose is not to argue for more
honesty in writing in general. Choice (D) is incorrect because she
does not introduce a new topic as another layer to her discussion
of gender issues. The only way that (E) might appeal to students
is if they read her analogies as "hypothetical situation[s]," but she
does not present them as such. Both (D) and (E) play on the
introduction of a new point when, in fact, she makes the point that
she is repeating, "I am a woman."
8. Answer = (C)
This item turned out to be more difficult than might be expected,
perhaps because (A) states the most common definition of
"wanting" -- that is, "desiring." Within the context of the passage,
however, the less common definition -- (C), "lacking" -- is
accurate. Exam-takers can quickly eliminate the other choices by
putting them in the sentence and hearing the confusion of both
meaning and syntax: for example, "Not 'hunting' in a certain . . . ."
The sentence itself is complex (and the next item also focuses on
it), so the students might select an inappropriate word because
they do not grasp the meaning sufficiently to interpret the
participial phrase.
9. Answer = (C)
This is a straightforward, pronoun-reference item, but the
complexity of the sentence increases the difficulty. Students must
determine what it is that possesses "concentrativeness" and such
-- it is (C), the speaker's "serious style." Exam-takers who
understand the participial phrase in the previous item will be likely
to identify the subject "it" as a reference to "my serious style." (It
is worth noting that students with scores of 5 and 4 had an easy
time with items 8 and 9, while those with lower scores, especially
2 and 1, had a great deal of difficulty.)
10. Answer = (B)
This one somewhat resembles the analogy items on the old
SAT®. The speaker writes, "It is not self-sacrifice, but selfcherishing, that turns the dyspeptic alderman away from turtlesoup." The logic must be as follows: the dyspeptic alderman
chooses to avoid eating rich soup because he does not want to
get indigestion (thus self-interest) rather than because he has a
larger goal or purpose. The trouble might be vocabulary -- both
dyspeptic and turtle soup, the latter hardly a modern-day staple.
Choice (B) captures this logic. Option (A) is wrong because the
alderman is not "one who succumbs"; rather, he chooses. Choice
(C) is incorrect because the alderman is the antithesis of an
innocent victim. Option (E) is not the right answer because the
alderman is depicted as relatively unconcerned about his
conscience; the references to "empty stomach" and "clear
conscience" in line 73 might confuse a careless reader into
making this choice. Choice (D) is a complete misreading because
the behavior is neither "admirable" nor "unrecognized."
11. Answer = (A)
Students unfamiliar with the term "antithesis" might have difficulty
with this item. Even with only a rudimentary understanding that
the term has something to do with opposition, however, they
could determine that the speaker would hardly suggest a "weakminded man," (B), as an opposite to a weak-minded woman. The
"hungry newsboy" from the previous sentence has scant
connection apart from proximity. Since the speaker has not
evaluated the reader in any way before this sentence, (C) is not
likely to be the correct answer. Choice (E) would be contradictory
because engaging exclusively in pursuits considered the domain
of the female seems the same as "weak-minded." "The speaker"
herself, (A), is the opposite of a weak-minded woman not just by
process of elimination but because all along the speaker has
been building her case that, paradoxically, she asserts her
womanhood directly and openly to assert her strength of purpose
and mind.
12. Answer = (E)
In many ways, this item synthesizes other items in the set.
Although not directly, several call attention to the speaker's
repetition ("reiteration") of "I am a woman." Other items focus on
both analogy and direct comparisons. Item 5 emphasizes the
"criticism from men." Although some students might interpret the
"Classical Dictionary" or even the quotation as authorities, these
references make no real appeals to authority to support the
speaker's argument. "Except" items can be a little tricky; each is
essentially five true/false statements presented as one multiplechoice item. The one that is not correct is the answer -- in this
case, (E).