Practice using context clues to determine word meaning — one of the most tested skills on the R&W subtest.
In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, four Chinese-American mother-daughter pairs struggle across generational and cultural divides. The mothers, who immigrated from China, carry memories of hardship that their American-born daughters cannot fully comprehend. The daughters, caught between two cultures, seek to forge independent identities while remaining connected to their heritage. The novel portrays how stories become bridges across these divides.
Using the same passage about The Joy Luck Club: How does the novel handle the daughters' cultural identity?
Vocabulary questions on ETS 5758 test word and phrase meaning as used in the passage — not dictionary definitions. The correct answer is the meaning that fits the specific sentence and tone of the surrounding text. ETS tests two types: word meaning (what does 'delegate' mean as used here?) and word choice significance (why does the author use 'stunned' instead of 'surprised'?). Context clue strategies include looking for contrast words (however, but, although), examples, and restatement phrases in surrounding sentences.
Before looking at the answer choices, read the sentence containing the word and the sentence before and after it. Ask yourself: what would make sense here? Then eliminate answers that do not fit the tone or meaning of the passage. Consider connotation — the implied or emotional meaning of a word — not just its denotation (literal definition). For example, 'thrifty' and 'cheap' have the same denotation but different connotations. The passage tone guides which is correct.