Question 95·Medium·Text Structure and Purpose
The following text is adapted from Clara Whitcomb’s 1878 travelogue Among the Unmapped Currents.
The river loses its patience just before dawn, breaking free of its rocky bed in frothing mutiny. At such an hour, it seems less a body of water than a restless creature intent on escape; I confess that I, too, feel its urgency. Had I remained within the placid boundaries of my cottage life, I might never have suspected that water could hunger for distance.
Which choice best describes the main purpose of the comparison between the river and “a restless creature” in the passage?
For SAT questions asking about the purpose of a comparison or specific detail, first reread 1–2 sentences before and after the quoted phrase to understand the context and tone. Put the comparison into your own words—what feeling or idea does it create? Then test each choice against the actual text, eliminating any option that introduces ideas not mentioned (like fear, geography, or human control) or that contradicts the narrator’s attitude. Choose the answer that matches both the emotional tone and the role the comparison plays in the surrounding sentences.
Hints
Zoom in on the key sentence
Reread the sentence with the phrase “a restless creature intent on escape” and the sentence right after it. Ask yourself what the narrator says about her own feelings in connection to the river.
Consider the tone toward the river
Does the narrator sound frightened, critical, calmly descriptive, or emotionally connected? Look at words like “restless,” “escape,” and “I, too, feel its urgency.”
Check for ideas that aren’t in the passage
Do the lines mention physical geography, human control of nature, or danger to the narrator? Eliminate any answer that depends on details that don’t actually appear in the quoted text.
Step-by-step Explanation
Locate and reread the key comparison
Focus on the sentence with the comparison: “At such an hour, it seems less a body of water than a restless creature intent on escape; I confess that I, too, feel its urgency.”
Also connect it to what comes right after: “Had I remained within the placid boundaries of my cottage life, I might never have suspected that water could hunger for distance.” These lines together show what the narrator is doing with this image.
Identify the narrator’s attitude and emotions
Ask: How does the narrator feel about the river here?
- She calls it a “restless creature intent on escape.” That suggests energy and desire to break free, not calm or safety.
- Then she says, “I confess that I, too, feel its urgency.” This shows she shares the river’s feeling; she doesn’t say she’s terrified of it.
- In the last sentence, she talks about water that can “hunger for distance,” which is another way of describing a strong desire to go far away.
So the tone is one of identification and shared longing, not fear or disapproval.
Eliminate choices that don’t match the text
Now compare this understanding to the answer options:
- There is no mention of the narrator being scared or needing to justify fear; she feels urgency, not terror.
- The comparison is about how the river behaves and feels (restless, intent on escape), not about exact physical or geographical details.
- The passage never mentions humans trying to control the river; there is no dams, levees, or scolding of people.
Any answer that focuses on fear, physical geography, or human control of nature does not match what the lines actually say.
Match the remaining idea to the best answer
What the comparison does is:
- Turn the river into a creature with emotions and a desire to escape.
- Show that the narrator feels the same urgency as the river: “I, too, feel its urgency.”
- Suggest that, like the river “hungering for distance,” the narrator herself longs to move beyond the “placid boundaries” of her cottage life.
The only choice that captures both the sense of kinship between narrator and river and the hint of her own desire for freedom and distance is:
C) To illustrate the narrator’s kinship with the river and hint at her own yearning for freedom.