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b. «to purport» means to profess, to assert, to claim, or to convey some idea, meaning, intention, or
significance. That is its PRIMARY MEANING. Its SECONDARY MEANING or CONNOTATION is «to lay
claim, INSINCERELY, or FALSELY, to some idea, meaning, intention or significance (i.e., ptetense of some
sort.) i. What pretense is the writer referring to here? _____ ii. What (in the following sentence) makes it clear
that the idea of a «pretense» or false claim is what he has in maind? ______________________
2. «But the most still strive» (1.4)
The word «still» here means «nevertheless». The statement tells us that most people continue to strive for
something nevertheless (i.e., even though one would expect them not to do so).
a. What do they continue to strive for? _____________
b. Why would one expect them not to do so? ________
3. «that you and you alone» (1.5)
a. The pronoun «you» refers to _______________
b. What special effect is achieved by introducing the pronoun here?
4. «surmounting the past» (1.6) means____________
5. «its myth» (1.8) refers to the myth associated with ___
6. «In the face ... you are» (11.9-12)
Living as we do in a «more populous world» (1.10) requires that we be capable of assuming «myriad
identities» and responding to many «demands» (11.9)
a. what sort of escape does fame promise from the demands being made upon us?
______________________
7. Consider the list of concepts in 11.14-15 («career», «progress», «advance» and «change»):
a. Do they usually have a positive or negative CONNOTATION?
b. What does the statement in 11.12-16 («Touched by ... being oneself») suggest about the relationship
between these concepts and being famous?_____________________
c. What is surprising about this suggested relationship?
8. «Purity» (1.15) refers to the condition of being pure or free of anything that debases (reduces the quality
or value) or contaminates (makes impure by contact or mixture).
a. In the context of this passage, does «purity» have a positive or a negative connotation? (i.e., is it desirable
or undesirable)
9. «The aspiration ... the ages.» (1.16-end)
a. What are the usual connotations of «death»? ______
b. What are the usual connotations of «transfiguration»___
c. What are the usual connotations of «fame»?_______
d. What is surprising about the statement that «fame» and «death» and «transfiguration» have always been in
«close relation» to one another?
10. What finally are the connotations of «fame» in the context of this particular passage?