ACT RHETORIC
RELEVANCE:
This skill is deciding what the passage is about and whether or not a certain detail is directly related to that topic.
Determine if any of the following sentences are irrelevant to the topic of the paragraph:
[1] The peculiar way time passes in the novel, though, does eventually seem to take on a certain pattern: futile circles. [2] Emphasized by the fact that almost every character in the novel has at least one other character with the same name, events seem to happen again and again. [3] To modify the old cliché, even random history repeats itself. [4] The novel, too, shares the characters' insights on religious beliefs and how they view life and death. [5] The characters put forth great effort (even to the waste of their lives) in pursuit of alchemy, hidden routes, cures for illness, or whatever else obsesses their minds; but all of these attempts end in frustration, failure, and futility. [6] Any effort or time invested by Marquez’s characters, in fact, yields no return. [7] They always come back to where they started, unable to better their situation at all. [8] Marquez gives his characters the added frustration of lucidity. [9] They are aware of their fated failures and the fact that they cannot progress.
ANSWER: Sentence four is irrelevant. The paragraph is clearly about the use of time in the novel to indicate the futility of the characters' actions and lives. Sentence 4 is about the fact that the novel shares information on the characters' religious beliefs.