ShmoopTube

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You look like you could use a shmoopy question... Just when you thought you were free of this

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passage, it keeps pulling you back in...

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Hit pause and give 'er a skim...

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The tone of this passage is BEST characterized as... what? And here are the potential answers...

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This one's a question about tone, which means we can't just search for a key word...

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...we have to read and understand the passage as a whole.

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Great. This is really going to cut into our Candy Crush time.

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Okay, so let's take a look at our five choices and see which one makes the most sense...

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...self-loathing patriotism?

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The self-loathing part isn't a huge stretch... but we don't see this guy running down Main

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Street swinging an American flag back and forth. Which will rule out E as well...

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There must be a better option... Cynical resignation? Well... the first part

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is definitely true... this guy's a major cynic. But what's the resignation part? Did he give

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his two weeks at Wendy's?

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In this case, "resignation" doesn't mean quitting one's job as much as just... well, giving

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up in general.

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And Amory has certainly given up hope that things will get any better, so... B is looking

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pretty good here... Questioning analysis? Eh, could be... but

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we feel a little more overwhelmed by the negativity reading this passage than we do by Amory's...

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inquisitiveness...

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Steadfast determination? About the only thing Amory is determined to be is... cranky. So

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we'll have to scratch D as well. Looks like the best choice is B -- cynical

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resignation.

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Amory's personal motto -- if at first you don't succeed... take a nap.

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