Suppose the writer had intended to write anessay about... Would this essay fulfill that goal? Yes, because... Yes, because... No, because... No, because... DOPE An unavoidable difficulty of passage purpose questions is that they always appear asthe final question in a set of 15. At that point, the last thing you want to see is another thetoric question. If you've already encountered a bunch of shetoric questions in that passage, and if it’s the fifth passage and your energy is flagging, you'll be even less inclined to cate what the purported “writer” of the passage had actually intended to accomplish. Furthermore, these questions seem to demand an inordinate amount of work. Chances are, you've been moving mechanically from question to question, taking a few surrounding lines into account when necessary ‘but otherwise more or less ignoring what the passage as a whole is saying, You really don’t want to go back and read the whole thing again. Uh-ub, not going to happen. You'd rather just try to remember (you sort of do, after all) and take your chances. Both of these issues tend to hide a larger problem, though. A lot of test-takers aren’t really sure how to figure out what a passage is about at all. How Do You Know What a Passage is “About?” ter when answering passage purpose questions is that One of the most common problems that people encounter whe : they're not sure of the different between “talking about” and “being about.” In other words, they pow that certain pieces of information have been inviuded in the passage, but they don’t quite know how to tell whether the ete passage iv about that particular person or thing. And when they do look beck atthe passage, chey get £0 caught up in the details that they lose sight of the big picture. is most often the word (or name, title, etc.) that appears most pean bet the spe e peteemtes FFor example, in the full passage on p. 200, EUs ly throughout «at it appears in every single paragraph. Often, you can also simply look at io ori pee en ens bt eae Talc AlrAmescan Ballers” ls you cvezyhing yo deal ssage. case, bow 219Specific vs. General shar ia wether the topic oF 4 Many paseage purpose questions test your waderstanding EERE re geocenl grepesite. aca ‘Tallehief, the opening of the St pecific focus on a single on or event 8 Mane tS eople, events, or ideas m feneaa will be repeatedly mentioned Broughout the passage: PSE: referred to at various points, but only in relation to the main topic. Fe z is t (cg: pen names, Tejano sages: foe broad toy or recurring even" a Pee at gn om ee ca, a ee isolated points in the passage rather than being discussed throughout the entize assage. . 200. Let's look at how this plays out in a question about the Maria Tallchief passage on P ‘Suppose the writer had intended to write an essay about how Native American dancers influenced ballet in the United States. Would this essay fulfill that goal? Unfortunately, you don’t get to look at the answers quite yet. But it doesn’t even matter all that much you already know more or less what they'll say: two will say YES, and two will say NO. If you can decide ¢ yout own whether the answer is yes or no, you won't even have to read two of the answers. a How do you determine which one it should be? The most important thing to remember is that you don’t la to reread the entire passage. In fact, you can simply look at the title: “Maria Tallchief: An American ‘The title tells you that the passage is about one single person, not a group of people (.e. Native a3) general. That might seem suspiciously simple to you — after all, couldn’t the passage also talk about othe things? Yes, it could, but the the purpose of a title is to tell you what the passage is about. If the title that the passage is about Maria Tallchief, she’s going to be the main topic of the passage. Other people be mentioned, but they will not be the central focus. ‘The title won't always give you the information you need, though, So if you read th an sure, read the frst few sentences ofthe passage. Because ACT Laglish paoeeges ven eae lish oa presented in the first few sentences by necessity. What do the first two eae ae short, the topic must “A ballerina takes steps given to her and m: something different to the same tole,” combined great individualism and exte fakes them her own, Each individual bein the great ballerina Maria Tallchief once said. Tallchiel ordinary talent, creating a remarkable and vitalow the question looks like this Suppose the writer had intended to wine shout how Native American dancer ais 2 S547 ballet in the United States. Would thi weed that goal? ‘ssay fulfill C. No, because itindicates that Maria Talchie only professional Native American oe 2 United States in the 1940s and ‘50s, an D, No, because the essay focuses on Masia Tallchief : and does not discuss other Native Ametican ballet dancers. . Lets consider those remaining answers in tems st hrased gral way: it asks about Native American dancers rhea me ree esto. in a vty focuses on one single Native Ametican dancer, Which eee ee ne 0 , ti go hunting through the passage to see whether it states that Tallchief was the only professional Native American ballet dancer in the United States ducing the 1940s and ‘30s. But that’s time consuming and tiring, and you'te not really guaranteed to understand why the right answer is tight — which increases the chances that you'll second-guess yourself. Sometimes passage purpose questions are phrased a bit more subtly or confusingly, in ways that don’t initially seem as vulnerable to quick shortcuts. For example, the above question could have been phrased this way: Suppose the writer had intended to write an essay about how Maria Tallchief influenced the success of Native American dancers in the United States. Would this essay fulfill that goal? A. Yes, because it mentions that Maria Tallchief was a member of the Osage tribe. C. No, because it indicates that Maria “Talchit was the only professional Native American ballerina United States in the 1940s and ‘505. i No, because it does not provide g 5 how Maria TallchiePs career affected 0 American dancers.first glance, the question Now the general vs. specific issue is less clear-cut. But only alike, A rd dans again, focus on Maria Tallchief; however, if you look earefully, these other Native American dancers Second, if you simply scan the passage, you can see that there are a nen er anywhere in the passage. Maria Tallchief and George Balanchine (w! tified ars the only people referred to by name. If no other Native American dancers are e can’t be about them. i i “trailblazer” So while the beginning of the passage does indeed mention that Maria Tallehief was a “tr Americans in ballet, tha t idea is not the main four because the author does not support it by Providing sp Sxamples, nor is it mentioned anywhere else in the passage. ‘Te sum up, when answering passage purpose questions: 1) Review the passage briefly before answering it — even if you think you remember what it’s about, Reread the title and the introduction, and Paragraph and the conclusion. Those key specific or general. if you're still not sure, the topic sentence of. places reveal the passage’s focus and reveal wh 2) Ask yourself whether the passage fulfills the writer's intended goal Either way, you can automaticaly eliminate nwo Answers just by answering “Yes” or “No,” 3) Ask yourself why the passage either flflls or does not fulfill that goal, State the reason briefly in your own words, ‘Then, look for the answer that matches.