Reading Comprehension

PT138 · S1 · P1 · Q6 The Corrido

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The corrido, a type of narrative folk song, comes from a region half in Mexico and half in the United States known as the Lower Rio Grande Border.

Topic

The corrido—a narrative folk song tradition from the Lower Rio Grande Border region

Framework

Highlight Noteworthy

Main Point

Corridos are narrative folk songs central to the culture of the Lower Rio Grande Border, characterized by simple storytelling, recognizable imagery, and standardized conventions, which together commemorate local events and strengthen community bonds. The Most Valuable Sentence: The summary sentence at the end of the first paragraph encapsulates the main point:

P1: Introduction to Corridos and Their Social Function

Corridos originated in the Lower Rio Grande Border region, blending features from various Spanish folk traditions but focusing on local stories and events. While they often commemorate significant happenings at social gatherings, what’s most important is that the shared conventions and subject matter helped make Border communities feel more unified.

P2: Style and Thematic Imagery of Corridos

The name "corrido" comes from a Spanish word meaning to run or flow, indicating the songs’ straightforward, unembellished storytelling style. Metaphors are rare and, when present, use familiar images like storms, reinforcing the tradition’s continuity and making the songs easy for listeners to connect with.

P3: Conventional Structure and the Role of the Despedida

Corridos also rely on ready-made lines that recur across different songs, especially in the closing verse (the "despedida"). This formal farewell serves both as a signature of the corrido genre and affirms the successful telling of a local Border story, blending both uniqueness and tradition.

6.

The passage provides the most support for inferring which one of the following?

  1. "El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez"

    Too Strong: rarely

    In the 2nd paragraph we hear about the Cortez corrido. We're told that it's popular, that it uses metaphor, and that its storm imagery is found in other songs as well. We have no basis for saying it's rarely sung at social gatherings. The fact that it's popular would suggest the opposite.

    1% picked this

  2. Most surviving corridos do not

    Too Strong: most

    We have no information on what proportion of corridos have survived, and thus we also know nothing about what proportion of surviving corridos exist in complete form. The only time the passage discusses "surviving" corridos is in the 1st paragraph, where we're told that El Corrido de Kiansis is the "oldest corrido surviving in complete form". We don't otherwise have any clue what percent of surviving corridos are in complete form, so we can't say that it's more or less than 50%.

    9% picked this

  3. Correct

    All complete corridos have some

    Why this is right

    While we would probably defer on this one on the first pass, since the extreme nature of "all" is very unappealing, we can ultimately make peace with this answer. The beginning of the last paragraph tells us that the "the corrido is composed of ready-made lines that travel easily from one ballad to another. [this trait of ready-made lines that travel from one ballad to another] is most evident in the corrido's formal closing verse, or despedida." That would probably be enough support, but we get even more precise a couple claims later when we hear "the first and third lines are a set convention." So every complete corrido ends with a despedida, of which the first and third lines are a set convention (i.e. they're the same in every corrido).

    Skill tested: Inference · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

    57% picked this

  4. Most corrido variants have the

    Too Strong: most / same

    What we just read about despedidas in the final paragraph tells us that the 1st and 3rd lines are the same, in every corrido. But the 2nd and 4th lines are variable, so we have no basis for saying that most corridos have the same despedida.

    30% picked this

  5. "El Corrido de Kiansis" was

    Out of Scope: composer

    All we know about El Corrido de Kiansis is that it's the oldest complete corrido to have survived, it records the first cattle drives to Kansas, and its narrative deals with subject matter specific to the Border region. We don't know anything about who composed it, but given that it deals with subject matter specific to the Border region we'd have no reason to suspect that the composer is not from the Border region.

    3% picked this

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