Question 8·Medium·Text Structure and Purpose
The excerpt below is from a nineteenth-century novel in which the young narrator enters his guardian’s study for the first time.
The room was dim, the curtains drawn to a stubborn twilight. The map lay open on the desk, its coasts rimmed in red ink as if to warn me away. Dust rested on every brass instrument, and a clock ticked so slowly I wondered whether it kept time for anyone but itself.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the passage as a whole?
For SAT Reading & Writing questions about the function of a sentence, first paraphrase the sentence in your own words and note its tone (for example, ominous, humorous, neutral). Then connect it to what the surrounding sentences are doing: setting the mood, introducing a character, hinting at future events, etc. After you have a clear idea of its role, eliminate answer choices that (1) add new information not in the passage, (2) contradict the tone or mood you identified, or (3) describe a different purpose (like giving background or minimizing importance) than what the sentence actually achieves. Only then choose the option that best matches the role you’ve already determined from the text itself.
Hints
Look closely at the descriptive language
Reread the underlined sentence and focus on the words “rimmed in red ink” and “as if to warn me away.” Ask yourself what feeling or mood those words create.
Connect the sentence to the mood of the paragraph
How do the details about the dim room, drawn curtains, dust, and slow clock relate to the way the map is described? Do they make the scene feel ordinary, comforting, or something else?
Think about time: past vs. future
Does the underlined sentence mostly tell you about what has already happened in this room, or does it hint at what might happen later in the story involving the map?
Use elimination on the answer choices
Check each option against the text: which ones add ideas that aren’t mentioned (like specific historical topics or the guardian’s concerns), and which ones contradict the strong, warning tone of the sentence?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand what the underlined sentence literally says
Focus on the key words in the sentence: “The map lay open on the desk, its coasts rimmed in red ink as if to warn me away.” The narrator is describing how the map looks and how it feels to him. The “coasts rimmed in red ink” and the comparison “as if to warn me away” make the map seem threatening or dangerous, not neutral or boring.
Connect the tone to the purpose in the passage
Look at the mood of the whole description: “dim,” “curtains drawn to a stubborn twilight,” “dust rested,” and a clock that “ticked so slowly.” This creates an eerie, heavy atmosphere. The underlined sentence fits that mood by making the map itself seem like a source of warning or danger. That suggests the map is important and possibly tied to risky events later, not just a random object.
Decide what kind of structural role this sentence plays
Function questions ask why the author included a sentence. Here, the map is not being treated as ordinary background; it stands out and is given a dramatic, warning-like description. That points ahead in the story: the map likely represents a journey or adventure, and the warning tone hints that this future journey won’t be safe. This is a classic example of foreshadowing—a hint about something important that will happen later.
Match that role to the best answer choice
Now compare that understanding with the options:
- One option calls the detail “mundane” and about how little the room has changed—this clashes with the intense, warning tone.
- Another brings in “historical context” and “overseas territories” that are never mentioned.
- A third says it minimizes the map’s importance, but the sentence clearly highlights the map in a dramatic way.
- The remaining option describes the sentence as a hint that the journey suggested by the map will be dangerous, which fits the ominous wording “as if to warn me away” and the dark mood of the whole passage.
Therefore, the correct answer is: It foreshadows the narrator’s eventual recognition that the journey suggested by the map will be dangerous.