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Question of the Day: AP English Language
Adapted from “The Celebration of Intellect” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1861)
I cannot consent to wander from the duties of this day into the fracas of politics. The brute noise of cannon has, I know, a most poetic echo in these days when it is an instrument of freedom and the primal sentiments of humanity. Yet it is but representative and a far-off means and servant; but here in the college we are in the presence of the constituency and the principle itself. Here is, or should be, the majesty of reason and the creative cause, and it were a compounding of all gradation and reverence to suffer the flash of swords and the boyish strife of passion and the feebleness of military strength to intrude on this sanctity and omnipotence of Intellectual Law.
Against the heroism of soldiers I set the heroism of scholars, which consists in ignoring the other. You shall not put up in your Academy the statue of Caesar or Pompey, of Nelson or Wellington, of Washington or Napoleon, of Garibaldi, but of Archimedes, of Milton, of Newton. . . .
For either science and literature is a hypocrisy, or it is not. If it be, then resign your charter to the Legislature, turn your college into barracks and warehouses, and divert the funds of your founders into the stock of a rope-walk or a candle-factory, a tan-yard or some other undoubted conveniency for the surrounding population. But if the intellectual interest be, as I hold, no hypocrisy, but the only reality, then it behooves us to enthrone it, obey it, and give it possession of us and ours; to give, among other possessions, the college into its hand casting down every idol, every pretender, every hoary lie, every dignified blunder that has crept into its administration.
What is the effect of the expression “dignified blunder” that is underlined in the passage?
To destroy the idols created by irreligious people
To subtly mock a kind of hidebound conservatism
To make a raucous joke
To foreshadow the coming riots that would engulf the university
To question all authority and condemn it
The English language is an intricate study of many different rules regarding grammar, punctuation, tense, and other parts of speech. As you prepare for your AP English Language test, you will want to find ways to study that will prepare you for questions that you might see on your test. While there are many different options for you to use as you prepare for the test, one way is to use the AP English Language Question of the Day from Varsity Tutors’ Learning Tools. By using the Question of the Day, you will receive a unique AP English Language sample question each day that will help you review the information that may be on the test and get you in the habit of studying for your test on a daily basis. Whether you need English tutoring in Providence, English tutoring in Nashville, or English tutoring in San Antonio, working one-on-one with an expert may be just the boost your studies need.
Using the Question of the Day each day as you prepare for the exam can help get you into a daily AP English Language review routine. Taking just a few minutes out of each day to focus on your review will keep your mind fresh when it comes to the topic. Each day, you will get a multiple-choice question that pertains to an AP English Language topic. In many questions, you will receive a passage to read. This will require you to think critically about the whole passage, as well as the specific concept that the sample question pertains to. Varsity Tutors offers resources like free AP English Language Practice Tests to help with your self-paced study, or you may want to consider an AP English Language tutor.
Once you answer the question, you will be given a number of different tools and statistics that can be valuable in your test preparation. One of the main benefits of the Question of the Day is the full explanation of the answer. This can be very important, especially if you don’t understand the correct answer or the process by which the correct answer was obtained. By receiving a full explanation along with the answer, you will be able to go beyond the simplicities of the AP English Language sample question itself to gain a full understanding of the concept as well. In addition to the AP English Language Question of the Day and AP English Language tutoring, you may also want to consider taking some of our AP English Language Flashcards.
Another feature of the Question of the Day are the statistics that you will receive by answering each question. These statistics will provide you information about how many correct answers you have in the subject, your percentile versus that of others who have also answered the question, and how much time it took you to answer the question against the average. By having these statistics at your disposal, you will be able to measure yourself against other prospective test-takers and get an idea of how you measure up against them. Further, it will help to focus your AP English Language study plan by giving you an idea of what types of questions you are strongest with, as well as where you may be able to improve.
The AP English Language Question of the Day gives you the opportunity to receive a question each day that’s similar in format to your upcoming AP English Language test. It’s just one of many review resources available from Varsity Tutors’ Learning Tools, all of which can help you as you move forward toward the test.
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