ShmoopTube

00:04

Here's your shmoopy question du jour...

00:06

Sarah's teacher told her that her essay on the effects of cheese on the human digestive system was too vague;

00:12

she would get a much better grade if she stated her ideas explicitly.

00:17

What is the meaning of the word explicitly in the previous sentence?

00:20

And here are the potential answers:

00:22

Before we spoil the ending, hit pause and try answering yourself.

00:27

If we didn't already know what the word EXPLICITLY meant...

00:30

...we can often get to the right answer in questions like this by coming up with words

00:34

that look or sound similar...

00:35

So... let's take a look at a few of explicit's brothers from another mother...

00:41

Elicit...

00:43

Explicate...

00:45

Explain...

00:46

Well, explain is a pretty simple word most people know. Hopefully, we don't have to...

00:51

explain it. Let's take a quick scan of the answers to

00:53

see if there's anything that stands out. Well, there's nothing really "graphic"

00:57

about being explicit.

01:00

Even if the particular subject matter can get a bit graphic. Probably a decoy.

01:10

Answer choice B is "in a non-specific manner."

01:13

Well, why would we want an essay to be LESS specific?

01:18

That seems like the OPPOSITE of what Sarah's teacher is asking.

01:22

What about choice C: "In a precise and clear way."

01:25

Yeah. This one makes sense. When you EXPLAIN things -- at least when you do it well -- you

01:30

explain precisely and clearly so yep -- C has to be it.

01:34

And a quick check on D confirms -- "generally" is just vague...

01:38

...and doesn't really help our case for clarity.

01:41

Answer is C. As in Cheese. Or Constipation.

Full Transcript