My definite least favorite part of the reading section of the SAT is the history passage, especially if it ends up being a dual-passage. I dislike reading the vocab and weird sentence structures of those annoying 18th century English feminist authors, and I was wondering if there is an easy and effective way to get a deeper comprehension of similar historical passages. Thanks!
Really there aren’t any weird tips and tricks besides to just expose yourself to that sort of language a lot unfortunately
There’s nothing wrong with 18th century English feminists–they did set us on the path to suffrage, after all. The way I go about those is to split each sentence into its individual clauses, then “translate” the clause to more simplicity.
Here’s an example, in the words of 18th century American feminist Frederick Douglass:"
"The papers and placards say, that I am to deliver a 4th [of] July oration (1). This certainly sounds large, and out of the common way, for it is true that I have often had the privilege to speak in this beautiful Hall, and to address many who now honor me with their presence (2). But neither their familiar faces, nor the perfect gage I think I have of Corinthian Hall, seems to free me from embarrassment (3).
The fact is, ladies and gentlemen, the distance between this platform and the slave plantation, from which I escaped, is considerable—and the difficulties to be overcome in getting from the latter to the former, are by no means slight (4). That I am here today is, to me, a matter of astonishment as well as of gratitude (5). You will not, therefore, be surprised, if in what I have to say, I evince no elaborate preparation, nor grace my speech with any high sounding exordium (6). With little experience and with less learning, I have been able to throw my thoughts hastily and imperfectly together; and trusting to your patient and generous indulgence, I will proceed to lay them before you (7)."
- This sentence is simple enough.
- 'This certainly sounds large, and out of the common way...' becomes 'This sounds important and unusual'. '...for it is true that I have often had the privilege to speak in this beautiful Hall, and to address many who now honor me with their presence.' becomes 'because I've spoken often here to address this same audience.'
- This sentence becomes 'But neither the familiar audience nor my sense of this setting can save me from embarrassment.'
- 'The fact is, ladies and gentlemen, the distance between this platform and the slave plantation, from which I escaped, is considerable...' becomes 'There is a big difference between this stage and the plantation I escaped from.' '...and the difficulties to be overcome in getting from the latter to former, are by no means slight.' becomes 'and it was hard to escape the plantation to get to this stage.'
- 'That I am here today is, to me, a matter of astonishment as well as gratitude.' becomes 'I am shocked and thankful to be here today.'
- 'You will not, therefore, be surprised, if in what I have to say, I evince no elaborate preparation, nor grace my speech with any high sounding exordium.' This one is tricky because of the words 'evince' and 'exordium'. Using context clues, I'd guess that this sentence becomes 'You won't be surprised if I don't seem prepared or use fancy words when I speak.'
- 'With little experience and with less learning, I have been able to throw my thoughts hastily and imperfectly together' becomes 'I'm not educated or experienced, so this will be a little rough.' '...and trusting to your patient and generous indulgence, I will proceed to lay them before you' becomes 'I trust I have your patience as I give my thoughts.'
It takes some practice, but with careful thought, I’m sure you’ll be reading 18th century feminist authors in no time.