<p>These are 2 passages I didn't really understand from the blue book.</p>
<p>Passage 1:
The critic Edmund Wilson was not a self-conscious letter writer or one who tried to sustain studied mannerisms. Nor did he resort to artifice or entangle himself in circumlocutions. the young, middle aged, and old Wilson speaks directly through his letters, which are informal for the most part and which undisguisedly reflect his changing moods. On occasion-in response, perhaps, to the misery of a friend or a public outrage or a personal challenge-he can become eloquent, even passionate, but that is not his prevailing tone.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Based on the information in the passage, Wilson's letters can best be described as
A) cynical
B) spontaneous
C) critical
D) preachy
E) witty</p></li>
<li><p>The reference to the young, middle-aged, and old Wilson (line 4) serves to suggest the
A) multifaceted nature of Wilson's literary persona
B) maturity Wilson displayed even as a youth
C) effect aging had on Wilson's temperament
D) longevity of Wilson's literary career
E) consistency of Wilson's letter-writing style</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Passage 2:
The belief that it is harmful to the black community for authors to explore the humanity of our leaders can have troubling effects. At the least, it promotes the belief that our heroes have to be perfect to be useful. At worst, it censors out full investigation of Black life. if our painting of that life are stock and cramped, their colors drab and predictable, the representations of our culture are likely to be untrue. They will not capture the breadth and complexity of black identity. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>The passage implies that black leaders have sometimes been portrayed as being
A) overly sentimental
B) deeply complex
C) above reproach
D) without regret
E) beyond understanding</p></li>
<li><p>In context, the "paintings" (lines 5-6) are best understood as a reference to
A) realistic sculptures
B) historical biographies
C) whimsical novels
D) political cartoons
E) colorful theorems</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I apparently got all these wrong but this is what I did when I did the questions</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I wasn’t really sure but I picked E. This was a wild guess.</p></li>
<li><p>I thought the reference showed that Wilson had multiple emotions. To me, B and C didn’t make sense so I crossed those off. A is most like my prediction so I picked that. I did not see a relationship between the question and answer choice D and E.</p></li>
<li><p>When I read the last 2 sentences, to me, this meant that there is more to black leaders and that they are more complex than they appear. I crossed off A, C, and D, because I don’t remember the passage mentioning a thing about those answer choices. Between B and E I picked B. The answer is actually C for this question which means “above reproach” I thought that meant “to good to be blamed” so I crossed it off.</p></li>
<li><p>I thought the paintings were basically something that represented the views of black culture. In the answer choices, I wasn’t really sure which to pick.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>6) the author describes Edmund Wilson as: “Nor did he resort to artifice or entangle himself in circumlocutions.” and " Wilson speaks directly through his letters, which are informal for the most part ". so, Wilson described expressed his emotions without really choosing his words, but rather he wrote what he felt. So B is the best answer. spontaneous means naturally and without preparation</p>
<p>7)“the young, middle aged, and old Wilson speaks directly through his letters” this sentence indicates that his writing style didn’t change throughout his life , so E is the best answer</p>
<p>8)“it promotes the belief that our heroes have TO BE PERFECT to be useful.” perfect is the same as above reproach, which is choice C </p>
<p>9) The passage is about something that described the lives and heroes of black people, which is a biography, so B is the answer. </p>
<p>I know I am not good in explaining, but I hope that it helped :)</p>
<p>If any answer doesn’t convince u, feel free to ask me again</p>
<p>Oh I see I didn’t know spontaneous meant without preparation I always thought it meant like over and over again. I guess that was what went wrong with number 6.
Number 7 and number 9 makes sense now. I sort of see how 8 would work but how come B is wrong? Thank you for answering btw.</p>
<p>“the representations of our culture are likely to be untrue. They will not capture the breadth and complexity of black identity.” In other words, the representations of black culture can’t portray the complexity of black leaders . The question is asking about how THEY WERE PORTRAYED not about what THEY REALLY ARE. So, B can’t be the answer .</p>