ShmoopTube

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[ musical flourish ]

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And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by technology in the workplace.

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As Candy Crush proves, not always that great. [someone playing candy crush on a phone]

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All right, check out the following passage.

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All right, well, here we go.

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The word "regimented" [a passage displayed on screen]

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most nearly means, uh, what?

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And here are the potential answers. [a doorbell rings]

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What do you think?

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Hmm, well,

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there are very few negative words that

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don't apply to slavery, [a man rowing a boat]

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but this passage describes the impact on slavery

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of the mechanical cotton gin.

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And mechanical things tend to make things, well,

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mechanized. [a man hammering something]

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It may be helpful to look at the root

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of "regimented" which is "regiment."

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Think of an army regiment. [army soldiers marching with guns in their hand]

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Now, life in the army can certainly be difficult,

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but the purpose of the regiment

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is not to make life harder

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or to make the troops feel forsaken [an old man and a woman sitting on a bench watching the Army soldiers]

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or to make life unbearable.

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The purpose of the regiment is to keep

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things strictly regulated,

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so that when it comes time to fight, the troops [Army soldiers marching]

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move in lock step.

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The same idea can be applied to the passage.

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The regimentation of the plantations was making them

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stricter and more regulated.

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People becoming mechanized like never before. [a mechanical hand pointing at a small robot machine]

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So option B - strictly regulated

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is the best definition.

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Now if only someone would strictly regulate our workforce, uh, [a group of people smiling and holding their i-phone using both hands]

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or at least ban freemium iPhone games from Shmoop.

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Seriously. Nothing's gotten done in weeks around here.

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Come on. Get off that thing.

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[ yummy ]

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