1. Anecdote passage (early 19th century)
AP Practice
Anecdote passage
(early 19th century)

2. Line 1+
Line 13+

3. No sense of connection with public
No one is writing ABOUT critics
“Present times” are philosophic
No mention of them keeping diaries
Critics have “ridiculed” a “taste” for anecdote

4. No one is flattered
Readers’ anger isn’t aroused
Author isn’t lecturing on
Right vs. wrong
Author is reporting, not judging, public opinion

5. PARAPHRASE
Historians so elevate or vilify historical figures that a reader doesn’t really connect or see truth to the figure presented
Reader isn’t being evaluated
Reader materials interest level isn’t being evaluated
Author isn’t saying material is too old or far past
Author doesn’t indicate that history gives a moral lesson

7. 47.
***Note that the section from line 16+ deals specifically with how/why anecdote is useful (and justifiable), as we learn about the actual person through anecdote.

8. The section is pointing out that sometimes history isn’t so accurate b/c figures are often different in the public sphere than they are in the private one. Therefore, to look to evidence of the private, like “half-finished sentences,” one may learn more from the informal than the formal.

9. Lines 1+
Lines 8+
HARD
QUESTION!

11. The “previous sentence” notes that a smart biographer skilled in writing tends to make for a worse biography. The sentence noted in the prompt elaborates by stating that plain story—as found in anecdote—is “good” and over-written or overly-stylized is not.

12. This question builds on the last, for the author points out that biographers skilled with smarts and style tend to transfer those skills to the written biography.

13. Diction here is important, for “deceive,” “manufacture,” and “sacrificed” hint at the way in which style can create bias or slant a story.

14. Overall, the passage makes comparisons between unadorned, everyday language to stylized, elaborate wording to point to the truth and pleasure found in anecdote.

15. Choice C illustrates the value of anecdote in revealing the truth of a figure who is more authentic in personal life than in public life, where he/she tends to present a certain persona for an audience.