Reading Comprehension

PT138 · S1 · P1 · Q7 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.

7.

The passage most strongly suggests that the author would agree with which one of the following statements?

  1. In at least some cases,

    Out of Scope

    Out of Scope: hindered metaphors Word Salad This starts off sounding appealingly soft (in at least some cases), but it asks us to sign off on a causal connection between "ready-made lines", beginning of 3rd paragraph, and "the effective use of metaphor", beginning of 2nd paragraph. The fact that this answer is connecting language from two very different parts of the passage should give us a Word Salad trap vibe. It also doesn't make sense to say that anything hindered the effective use of metaphor, when we're told that metaphors are generally rare in corridos. It sounds from the beginning of the 2nd sentence like the singers of corridos want to tell a swift simple story without embellishment, and wanting that simple concision is why they don't use metaphor (not because ready-made lines hinder them).

    3% picked this

  2. The corrido is unique among

    Too Strong: unique

    Can we really support that corridos are the only ballad form that uses language familiar mainly to local audiences? Let's research what we were told about ballad forms -- it should be near the top of the first paragraph. We hear "corridos are part of a long-standing ballad tradition that has roots in 18th century Spain". The third sentence does make it sound like "dealing with subject matter specific to the Border region" is a possibly unique quality of corridos. But we don't have anywhere near the textual support to say that "no other ballad form uses language that mainly intended for local audiences".

    42% picked this

  3. Much of the imagery used

    No Support: same imagery

    We just read the two sentences we have about the origins of corridos in the Spanish ballad tradition (the 2nd and 3rd sentences of the passage). There was nothing in there about corridos using much of the same imagery. It says that corridos use formal features of several different types of folk songs, but it doesn't say they share any imagery with Spanish ballads. It's very unlikely that they would share much imagery, since the corridos are famous for using local imagery (the 2nd paragraph is the only time we speak of imagery and its all local cowboy in Kansas stuff, which probably didn't show up in too many ballads from Spain).

    5% picked this

  4. The reportorial capability of corridos

    Out of Scope: freedom from rhyme

    This is mildly worded, but we never talk about the constraints of rhymed ballad forms. Is a corrido a rhymed ballad form? The fact that you can't answer that question should tell you this answer has no support. If anything, the second to last sentence of the passage, which talks about how the 2nd line of the despedida is chosen so that it rhymes with the 4th line of the despedida, implies that corridos were rhymed forms. Thus it wouldn't make any sense to say that they were "free from the constraints of rhymed ballad forms".

    9% picked this

  5. Correct

    A corrido without a surviving

    Why this is right

    This is a tough correct answer for most of us, because it's counterintuitive. The author actually singled out the despedida as "perhaps the clearest marker of the corrido's uniqueness and genre". It sounded like "hearing the despedida would be a clear giveaway that this is a corrido", so why would the author say that a corrido without a despedida would probably still be identifiable? Well, there are a few moments we can cobble together: - that last sentence says that the despedida is "perhaps" the clearest marker of the corrido's uniqueness, not definitely. That means the author is thinking, "hmm, maybe there are other markers of corridos' uniqueness that are even clearer than the despedida". If the author thinks that something else might be the clearest marker of the corrido's uniqueness, then it makes sense that even without a despedida we could probably still tell it's a corrido. - the first two sentences of the last paragraph talk about ready-made lines that travel from one ballad to another, and then the says that the despedida is where that's most evident. But this statement also allows for negative space, where ready-made lines traveling from one corrido to another are still somewhat evident elsewhere, outside of the despedida. - the last sentence of the 2nd paragraph -- "such imagery ... readily recognizable to corrido listeners" - the last sentence of the 1st paragraph -- "heavy reliance on familiar linguistic and thematic conventions."

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

    42% picked this

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