The following text is adapted from Susan Glaspell’s 1912 short story “‘Out There.’” An elderly shop owner is looking at a picture that he recently acquired and hopes to sell.
It did seem that the picture failed to fit in with the rest of the shop. A persuasive young fellow who claimed he was closing out his stock let the old man have it for what he called a song. It was only a little out-of-the-way store which subsisted chiefly on the framing of pictures. The old man looked around at his views of the city, his pictures of cats and dogs, his flaming bits of landscape. “Don’t belong in here,” he fumed. And yet the old man was secretly proud of his acquisition. There was a hidden dignity in his scowling as he shuffled about pondering the least ridiculous place for the picture.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
Explanation
Context: The passage (from Glaspell's story) describes an old shop owner who bought a picture cheaply but feels it doesn't fit with his other inventory. He grumbles that it doesn't belong—yet is secretly proud of the acquisition and scowls with "hidden dignity" while looking for the least ridiculous spot for it.
Answer: A) To reveal the shop owner's conflicted feelings about the new picture
Why? The passage holds two things in tension: the owner's overt complaint that the picture "doesn't belong" and his secret pride in having it. This internal conflict—displeasure and pride at once—is the passage's central portrait.
Traps:
- B) To convey his resentment of the person he got the picture from → the young seller is mentioned briefly; resentment toward him isn't conveyed
- C) To describe items the shop owner most highly prizes → the passage focuses on the new picture's awkward fit, not on what the owner values most
- D) To explain differences between the new picture and other pictures → the difference is implied (it doesn't fit) but never described specifically