Question+37

Ananya Subramaniam

37) This is a rhetorical strategies question that functions to assess the reader’s understanding of and ability to notice rhetorical strategies embedded in the text. This questions asks the reader to consider the presence of rhetorical devices in the last paragraph, and decide which one is used in a large way. The declarative knowledge required for this task would be a comprehension of the meaning of all the answer choices: analogy, humor, irony, paradox, and personification. The procedural knowledge necessary to answer this question would be an understanding of the way the final paragraph is written. The reader must be able to understand that the author uses the comparison of the innate beauty found in math to the same type of beauty found in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in the last paragraph to illustrate their natural perfection, thus making an analogy, answer choice A.

Choice A-This is the correct answer, because the author compares the Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and math with respect to their beauty in the last paragraph, saying “‘It’s like asking why Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is beautiful.’” Therefore, an analogy is used and A is the correct option. Choice B-This is the wrong answer, because no humor is used in the final paragraph-in fact, it employs a somber, dramatic tone of voice.Thus, answer choice B is the clearly incorrect option. Choice C-This is the distractor option, because the comparison used between the symphony and math may seem like a form of ironic comparison. However, it is less ironic than it is an analogy that conveys meaning. Thus, answer choice C is the incorrect distractor option. Choice D-This is the wrong answer, because there is no usage in the paragraph of a paradox. A paradox is a statement that contradicts itself and is still true. This is not evident in the last paragraph and is thus incorrect. Choice E-This is the wrong answer choice, because there is no personification in the final paragraph. Personification is the giving of humanistic qualities to inanimate objects, and this is not done in the final paragraph, so answer choice E, personification, is an incorrect choice.