Multiple choice

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

Though the prose writing of the period is not great in bulk, it shows a profound change in style. Previous writers had done remarkable and beautiful work in prose, but clear style had not yet found itself. It was wayward and erratic, often cumbrous and often obscure, and weighted with a Latinized construction and vocabulary. In Dryden's time prose begins definitely to find its feet. It acquires a general utility and permanence; it is smoothed and straightened, simplified and harmonized. This is the age of average prose, and prepares the way for the works of those that then stood on the threshold of the modern prose style.

What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?

  1. To play down the importance of prose writing

  2. To show that Dryden's age lacked style

  3. To suggest that Dryden's age served as a springboard for the more enlightened writers

  4. To heap praises on the Latinized construction and vocabulary

  5. To show that average prose was all that mattered
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The writer clearly states that even as the age of Dryden had begun to find its feet, the age only served as springboard for others who took prose-writing to a greater height.

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