A question about a student’s notes can test whether you can show a difference between two subjects. Read the goal first and list what it asks for: both subjects, what you’re comparing, and the difference the sentence needs to show. Set aside sentences that miss any part, then match each detail to its subject in the notes. A sentence can use accurate facts yet still compare the wrong thing.
Hints
- Hint 1
The goal narrows the comparison to the narrators of the two books. Find the note that describes each narrator.
- Hint 2
Look at each narrator’s part in the story. What does the Nick Carraway note say he does, and whose journey does the Invisible Man note describe?
Step-by-step
Compare the narrators
Step 1List what the goal asks for
Start with emphasize a key difference in how each novel presents its narrator, which narrows our comparison to the narrators. What does that goal ask the sentence to include? We need both novels, a detail about each narrator, and a difference between those details.
- Step 2
Find each narrator’s role
Where do the notes show a difference between the narrators? The Great Gatsby has Nick Carraway, who observes the actions of Jay Gatsby and others, which makes him a named observer. Invisible Man follows an unnamed Black narrator whose journey takes him from college to Harlem, so the story follows the narrator himself. Nick watches others, while Ellison’s narrator is the person whose journey we follow.
- Step 3
Cross out what misses the goal
Which sentences fail that test? The lines beginning Both novels are narrated and Each novel uses offer similarities, so they miss the requested difference. The line saying Fitzgerald presents his narrator as the main character offers a contrast, but it turns the roles around by giving Ellison’s narrator the observer role that the notes give Nick.
- Step 4
Choose the direct contrast
The sentence pairing a named observer telling Gatsby’s story with the unnamed narrator tells his own story uses a detail from each book to show how the narrators differ. It states the difference in the narrators’ roles, rather than leaving the reader to work it out. Choice B.