ShmoopTube

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A little birdie told us you wanted to answer a shmoopy question...

00:09

Hit pause and look over this passage. Oh, you know you want to...

00:33

What does the word "want" mean in the context of line 15?

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And here are the potential answers...

00:40

Okay... so this question is asking for themeaning of a word... but it's not quite a vocab question.

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We all know what the word "want" means... in fact, for many of us it was probably our

00:49

first word.

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But this question is asking what the word means in the context of a line.

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So we're going to need to read and interpret... Line 15 says: "it is a mere and miserable

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solitude to want true friends; without which the world is but a wilderness..."

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Our first answer choice is "desire," and certainly that is usually how we would define the word "want"...

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...but is the answer really going to be that easy and obvious? Let's dig a little deeper...

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Is the author saying it is miserable to desire true friends?

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Not at all -- he thinks that desiring true friends is a good thing.

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But "want" can also mean "lack"... as in, "Keanu Reeves is wanting for acting ability."

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Which is option B... and it definitely makes sense. But let's check out the others just

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to be sure... C has the same problem that A did... Bacon

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would say that it's a positive thing to esteem friends...

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...what about "eschew?" Gesundheit.

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This word basically means to shun or steer clear of... which would apply that one already

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had friends they wanted to avoid... and that doesn't go with Bacon's sentiment.

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E -- burden? Nah... he's talking about needing friends, not burdening anyone.

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Our answer is B.

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We'll get you a Kleenex.

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