Question 27·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Craft and Structure
Film critics have often interpreted the doorways in Leila Anwar’s films as fixed symbols of emotional isolation. In “Winter Rooms,” for example, static framing leaves the protagonist at the edge of the image while an empty doorway dominates its center. In “Harbor Signal,” however, Anwar places two estranged sisters on opposite sides of a doorway and has the camera cross the threshold while the sisters remain still. At the end of the shot, both sisters are where they began, and neither has addressed the other. A critic attending only to their positions could therefore interpret the scene as another instance of the pattern in “Winter Rooms.” Doing so, though, would leave the camera’s path unexplained: the sequence grants passage across the boundary to the image even as it withholds that passage from the characters.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
For a function question, identify the claim established before the underlined portion and the interpretation developed after it. Then test each option against every important element of the targeted sentence; when the sentence contains a contrast, the best answer will often need to explain how both sides of that contrast contribute to the passage’s reasoning.
Hints
Track the critical claim
Compare the critics’ interpretation at the beginning with the issue the final sentence says that interpretation leaves unexplained.
Consider both visual elements
Ask what is suggested by the sisters remaining still and what is suggested by the camera crossing the threshold.
Determine the kind of revision
Decide whether the passage ultimately discards the original interpretation, accepts it without modification, or finds it incomplete.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the initial interpretation
The passage begins with the critics’ claim that Anwar’s doorways are fixed symbols of emotional isolation, using the static composition in “Winter Rooms” as an example.
Analyze both elements of the underlined scene
In “Harbor Signal,” the sisters remain on opposite sides of the doorway, which supports its association with separation. At the same time, the camera crosses the threshold, introducing movement across the apparent boundary.
Connect the example to the closing analysis
The following sentences acknowledge that the sisters’ positions resemble the pattern in “Winter Rooms” but argue that this similarity does not account for the camera’s path. Therefore, the underlined sentence supplies both support for the established interpretation and a reason to broaden it.