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Audio Transcript Auto-generated
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in today's literature lesson, We're starting a new text, which
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is called Monkey Master, and in this video I'll be
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going over a quick summary before the reading activities.
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And I will do a first read until Line 15
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which is about halfway through the text.
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And then I will show you what your task is
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for during the lesson, which is a nonfiction guide to
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make sure that you're reading and analyzing as you should
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be when doing your first read.
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So this text is a little bit longer than what
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we're used to, and that's why it's kind of split
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up into two lessons.
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So today, as I said, will be completing the nonfiction
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guide tomorrow.
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Before we do the analyze, the text will complete a
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close read.
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Make sure that everything we've completed reading the entire text.
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So, as I said, let's take a look at the
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summary beforehand.
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It's always smart to read what you're Texas about.
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Read a quick summary before you start rooting it, especially
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when it's kind of a challenging text like this one.
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So in this visual essay, art critic Waldemar J.
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Let's call it J talks about art painted by a
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number of apes, most notably a chimpanzee named Congo J.
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Notes that comparing someone's painting to a monkeys would normally
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be in insulting joke.
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But some of Congo's art is legitimately at excellent abstract
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art. So abstract is one of the words we saw
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in our previous book have lessons, which means not very
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realistic. It's a kind of art that is not very
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specific, not very riel.
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What J learns about Congo's painting method also makes him
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think of an artist.
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J also cites a few examples of famous 20th century
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arguments comparing artists work to animals.
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Finally, J argues for the importance of finding meaning and
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pleasure in this art.
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So this is a pretty interesting text.
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It's about, um, animal art.
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So this chimpanzee created some beautiful paintings, and today's author
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Waldemar J.
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Eyes discussing why we should take it seriously.
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What is art exactly?
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Is animal art considered really art or not?
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Another thing that's important to do is to take a
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look at the comprehension check before we read.
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So by reading these questions will know what to look
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out for.
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Number one.
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What is the name of the exhibition that the author
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discusses number two.
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What does the author think of the painting done by
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the gorilla and orangutan?
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Number three?
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Who is Desmond Morris?
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Number four, according to the author.
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What color does Congo like?
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And what color does he dislike?
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Number five, according to the author.
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How much did an American art collector pay for one
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of Congo's paintings?
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So again, comprehension check questions are just making sure that
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you read eso knowing these questions beforehand while reading.
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You can underline whenever you find the answer to a
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question, making the comprehension check easier to respond to.
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Okay, so we're just gonna read half of today's text
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starting to line one kind of monkey paint.
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A good picture.
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It's a question that has come up a few times
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during my tenure as an art critic as a result
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of various modern art jokes, scams, cons and the like.
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So take note of this engaging introduction starts with the
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question, but it really gets the reader thinking, Normally I
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would waste no time on the issue.
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It is or waas my firmly held view that in
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the field of art monkeys do whatever they do by
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accident or careers in monkeys cannot paint Then along comes
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a fascinating and slightly worrying exhibition at London's Mayor Gallery.
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Eight artists of the 19 fifties and I am no
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longer so certain.
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In particular.
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Along comes the artistic work of a talented chimpanzee named
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Congo, having carefully examined Congo's paintings, all of which might
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best be described as examples of lyrical abstract Expressionism.
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This is clearly a type of art.
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We don't need to know exactly what it is.
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I find myself assailed by doubts or filled with doubts.
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I like Congo's paintings, A couple of them I actually
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love. I am less sure of the output of the
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show's gorilla and not much taken with the orangutan pictures,
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either. But so remember, this is one of the comprehension
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check questions.
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In all their cases, something of interest is undoubtedly being
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attempted, and for the whole show, the feeling persists that
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the lessons being taught here pertain not only two monkeys
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but also to US.
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Congo was born in 1954 and produced about 400 paintings
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from the age 2 to 4.
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He died of tuberculosis in 1964.
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He appeared on television in the late 19 fifties.
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The star turn on Zu Zu Time, an animal magazine
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show presented life from London Zoo by Animal Behavioralist and
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the Naked Ape author Desmond Morris.
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Apparently the experiments with Congo began by accident.
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One day he picked up a pencil into a line.
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Then he do more until it was clear to Morris
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that the chimps actions were deliberate or on purpose.
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After a short drawing phase, it was decided to move
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him onto painting.
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Morris had a baby's high chair and Trey adapted to
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create a seating arrangement at which Congo could work.
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There are photographs of Congo and action in which particular
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attention is drawn to the grip with which he held
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the brush.
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It is similar to the way you or I may
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hold a pen and was absolutely Congo's invention, apparently.
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If so, that is already a remarkable development.
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Congo would be given a piece of paper and, in
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conditions of considerable concentration, would begin painting.
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The choice of colors was red being his particular favorite
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blue being a color he disliked again.
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Comprehension tech question Fascinatingly, If you tried to take a
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picture away from Congo before he had finished with it,
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he would scream and throw fits.
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However, if he considered the picture done, no amount of
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cajoling or persuader could persuade him to continue.
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The master's work was complete.
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That was that.
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So here we can really tell that he cares about
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his paintings.
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He has a purpose.
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He's not just fooling around.
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If he thinks the painting is not done and you
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try to take away from him, he would go and
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sing it.
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The results have been placed in functional wooden frames and
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hung in a line in the no frills exhibition box
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of the Merit Gallery.
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The exhibition comes on the heels of a recent auction
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of some of Congo's works in London, at which an
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American collector paid $25,000 for one painting, 20 times the
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expected price.
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But not even the mayor's galleries.
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The mayor galleries charmless presentation condemn the disquieting beauty of
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Congo's best pictures.
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They shine off the walls like stained glass.
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That's a simile.
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Remember that comparing two things using like or adds the
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way they shine is like stained glass.
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So remember, this is a visual essay, which means it
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contains pictures.
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In this photograph, Congo is at work on one of
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his many paintings.
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Notice how he holds the brush like he really knows
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what he's doing.
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The paintings that illustrate this essay are examples of Congo's
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artwork. Here is one of Congress many paintings.
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This would be considered abstract because it's not a realistic
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thing, but it is art.
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There's a cracker called Composition on white card painted on
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August 17 1958 which is dramatically, even shockingly scarce or
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rare. An audacious pink splotch at the center plays a
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delicate game of tag across the picture.
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The paper Sorry with a couple of different blues, that's
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it. And it really works for combat to have finished
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this picture as he finished it for a monkey to
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be this minimal.
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This is deeply disconcerting.
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So what they're saying is that in this photo, um,
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it's for him.
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He had a purpose.
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This is what makes art abstract.
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Abstract art has a purpose, but it makes the viewer
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kind of think.
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What was the intention of the artist?
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And what the author is saying is that this Abe
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had a lot of intention for his paintings, even the
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ones that were just lines and colors.
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He took a lot of concentration into making them Okay,
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so that is the text that will be reading in
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today's class.
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Here is a nonfiction guide that you will be given.
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So at the top part, you're gonna be filling in
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the general idea of of the text.
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What is it about who is involved in the next
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part? You will mark vocabulary words that you want to
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revisit. So maybe, um, abstract may be deliberate.
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Some words that you aren't sure of connect ideas within
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this election to what you already know.
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Maybe you've already heard of a story of an animal
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painter connected to your own background knowledge.
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And then, of course, at the end, you will respond
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to the comprehension check questions.