Official SAT II Literature thread

remaxprop
Sun, 09 Oct 2005 14:36:19 +0000

yo i think you guys are wrong but it’s cool i don’t have time to construct a reply - but i’m pretty sure i’ll get an ok score … in the end this is all trivial anyways

actually on second thought:
look it’s way too simple - the thief is able to recognize the material as gold and determine it’s value - how can this NOT mean that he knows SOMETHING about jewelry (the answer for verbatim included the word SOMETHING not… A LOT)? the fact he’s hardened by poverty makes him able to justify wrongdoing to prop up his own socioeconomic status NOT take down the rich - he doesn’t hate them, he’s ultimately trying to make himself better and all his comments about the mother and the maid are used to justify his own wrong doing. inference is different from interpretative analysis - simply put there is no doubting the fact he knows a bit about jewelry, however the fact that he DETESTS the rich and the poor is not as clearly cut - he steals b/c he is poor not b/c he hates the people with money, he stole from the girl b/c she had jewelry not b/c he knew she was rich - his later analysis is just self-justification and the finding of rationale to ease his guilt - which we all agreed early was a correct answer for another question - a self fulfilling catharsis is not on par with your answer choice

second the narrator is being SARCASTIC when she commends arthur for his civility. the quote “sitting next to the fire with a degree of enjoyment” is juxtaposed with his “civility” in giving up to the chair … here’s what this implies, i think you guys are misunderstanding the essay: arthur appears happy in his chair, but desires to appear civil to the lady and gives it up; the narrator specifically recounts the happiness and satisfaction he feels when she declines - it’s indirect sarcasm when he is characterized as “civil”, meaning the narrator is HELLA cynical about his actual giving up of the chair (aka doubting his sincerity), since he was obviously comfortable in another position

simply put: when the narrator says that it gave a great deal to his civility - that is sarcasm, not sincere praise

peace"