ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos


Main Idea Videos 7 videos

ACT Reading 1.1 Prose Fiction
1308 Views

ACT Reading Prose Fiction Drill 1, Problem 1. Which of the following best describes the overall purpose of this passage?

ACT Reading 2.1 Prose Fiction
313 Views

ACT Reading 2.1 Prose Fiction. Which of the following best describes the mood of this passage?

ACT Reading 1.4 Social Science Passage
227 Views

ACT Reading 1.4 Social Science Passage. Which of the following best describes the main idea of this passage?

See All

ACT Reading 1.1 Humanities Passage 548 Views


Share It!


Description:

ACT Reading: Humanities Passage Drill 1, Problem 1. Which of the following best describes the main purpose of this passage?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by Hamlet. A great name for Danish Princes,

00:08

as well as miniature pigs.

00:19

Which of the following best describes the main purpose of this passage?

00:27

Okay, so to figure out the main point of these things, we sometimes have to take a glance

00:30

at the possible answer choices first...

00:32

...then go back and reread the passage again.

00:34

Trust us, there's no shame in doing a little rereading.

00:37

How's answer A look? Well, Hamlet is mentioned, but it isn't the main focus of the passage.

00:42

Professor Bradley has bigger fish to fry than the emo Prince of Denmark.

00:46

The passage does compare Shakespeare's romantic comedies to his tragedies, but again, it's

00:50

only one point among many. So B's a "no." The passage doesn't argue that Macbeth is

00:55

more complex than Julius Caesar, just that it's different...

00:58

...which is kind of a no-brainer considering one is set in Scotland and includes witches

01:02

and the other is a historical drama about the birth of the Roman Empire.

01:06

Out, damned answer choice...

01:09

Choice B? Ah...here we are. Professor Bradley's main purpose is to show off just how much

01:14

he knows about the evolution of Shakespeare's tragedies.

01:16

A subject with which he may be unhealthily obsessed.

Related Videos

ACT Reading 1.5 Social Science Passage
1337 Views

ACT Reading 1.5 Social Science Passage. Based on its context in the passage, which of the following would be the best definition for the word...

ACT Reading 1.1 Natural Science Passage
257 Views

ACT Reading: Natural Science Passage Drill 1, Problem 1. Which of the following best describes the overall purpose of this passage?

ACT Reading 1.1 Prose Fiction
1308 Views

ACT Reading Prose Fiction Drill 1, Problem 1. Which of the following best describes the overall purpose of this passage?

ACT Reading 1.1 Social Science Passage
276 Views

ACT Reading: Social Science Passage Drill 1, Problem 1. According to Freud, how were dreams understood in what he refers to as the "prescienti...

ACT Reading 1.10 Humanities Passage
270 Views

ACT Reading: Humanities Passage Drill 1, Problem 10. Which of the following is the best explanation of the term "tragedy of thought" in line 58?