Question 188·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Craft and Structure
Critics often treat the frequent self-corrections made by the narrator in M. Salas's novel "The Distant Room" as straightforward signs of unreliability. A study of the novel's drafts, however, found that Salas added most of the corrections late in revision. Significantly, the only memories the narrator never corrects are also the only ones that another character later recounts. This correspondence does not establish that those memories are accurate, since the later accounts disagree on key details. Instead, it suggests that the narrator corrects memories that no one else can corroborate, making the habit a sign not just of uncertain recall but also of social isolation.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
For a function question, distinguish what the underlined sentence states from the inferences the surrounding text draws from it. Track qualifications such as “does not establish” and shifts such as “instead,” and reject choices that convert a thematic interpretation into an unsupported claim about causation, motive, or authorial intent.
Hints
Separate observation from interpretation
First identify the relationship reported by the underlined sentence without deciding what that relationship proves.
Follow the qualification
Notice what inference the sentence immediately after the underlined portion says cannot be established.
Check for causal overreach
Distinguish between a pattern that supports a thematic interpretation and evidence that establishes the narrator's motive or the author's intention.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the pattern
The underlined sentence links two groups: the memories the narrator does not correct and the memories another character later recounts.
Track the rejected inference
The following sentence warns that the other character's accounts do not prove the memories accurate because the accounts disagree on important details. Thus, the correspondence cannot simply establish the narrator's reliability.
Track the alternative interpretation
The final sentence uses the same correspondence differently. Because corrected memories lack corroboration from other characters, the correction habit can signify the narrator's social isolation in addition to uncertain recall.
Choose the complete description
The correct choice captures both stages of the sentence's function: an accuracy-based inference is limited, and the correspondence is then used to broaden the interpretation of the narrator's behavior.