Writing Workshop: Comparing Texts — Cumulative exam

Question 2 • CA-Common Core English Language Arts 11 B

Which excerpt from Infinite Jest best supports the inference that Hal is extremely intelligent?

Answer

‘My application’s not bought,’ I am telling them, calling into the darkness of the red cave that opens out before closed eyes.

I believe the influence of Kierkegaard on Camus is underestimated. I believe Dennis Gabor may very well have been the Antichrist. I believe Hobbes is just Rousseau in a dark mirror.

‘I am not just a boy who plays tennis. I have an intricate history. Experiences and feelings. I’m complex.

My forehead is pressed into parquet I never knew could be so cold. I am arrested. I try to be perceived as limp and pliable. My face is mashed flat; Comp.’s weight makes it hard to breathe.

Explanation

Choice B best supports the inference that Hal is extremely intelligent because it shows him discussing complex thinkers and ideas, including Kierkegaard, Camus, Gabor, Hobbes, and Rousseau. The other excerpts focus on Hal’s application, his sense of being complex, or a physical incident rather than demonstrating intellectual knowledge.

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