PSAT Reading Question 596: Answer and Explanation

Question: 596

The tone of Passage 1 is best described as

• A. abstract.
• B. personal.
• C. serious.
• D. melancholy.

Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

(B) Benjamin Franklin is reflecting on his own life in a candid manner. He is addressing his son, and both the nature of Franklin's reflections and the concept of writing to one's son can only be described as "personal." The tone is open, revelatory—it is Franklin at his most personal. It is not "abstract"; Franklin is not speaking in a roundabout, symbolic way. The passage is perhaps "serious" in that it does not trivialize the task of describing a life, but "serious" is not as apt as "personal." It is not "melancholy"; the passage is more celebration than lamentation.