SAT OwlQuestion bank / Cross-Text Connections
Text 1: Literary historians have generally read the novels of Margaret Ashdown (1841-1902) as gentle comedies of village life. They point to her sparkling dialogue, her affectionate portraits of eccentric neighbors, and the happy marriages that close nearly every book.
Text 2: Critic Daniel Oyelaran finds something sharper beneath Ashdown's comedy. In nearly every novel, he notes, the heroine's happy marriage follows the loss of her inheritance or of some independence she once enjoyed, details that Ashdown's narrators mention briefly and then hurry past. The cheerful endings, Oyelaran argues, invite readers to overlook what the heroines have given up.
Based on the texts, how would Oyelaran most likely respond to the literary historians' reading of Ashdown's novels?
He would argue that their reading misses a critical element that the novels' cheerful surface tends to hide.
He would agree that Ashdown's novels contain no serious commentary on women's lives.
He would claim that Ashdown's novels are not actually humorous.
He would argue that Ashdown's heroines rarely marry by the end of her novels.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A
The historians see gentle comedy with happy endings. Oyelaran agrees the comedy is there but finds "something sharper beneath" it: the heroines' losses, which the cheerful endings lead readers to overlook. He would say the historians have missed this hidden critical element, choice A.
Choice C goes too far: Oyelaran describes what lies "beneath Ashdown's comedy," so he accepts that the novels are funny.
Why the other choices are wrong
- B. Oyelaran argues the novels contain serious commentary on women's losses, so he would not agree that such commentary is absent.
- C. Oyelaran describes what lies beneath Ashdown's comedy, indicating he accepts the novels are humorous rather than denying their humor.
- D. Text 1 states that happy marriages close nearly every book, so claiming the heroines rarely marry contradicts the provided evidence.
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