Question

Identify the intended effect of the following based on its sentence structure/variety:

She was stunned. Her parents had elaborately, and quite silently, organized a party for her and made sure that she remains oblivious to their intentions till the day arrived.

a) shock
b) context to a statement
c) laziness
d) quick and dynamic

Answer 1

Hint: The sentence conveys an incomplete meaning and we do not know the whole situation. Make sure to look at the punctuation.

Complete answer:
In order to understand the exact meaning behind the sentences, we need to completely deconstruct the given sentences. So, let’s divide it into 3 parts.

Part 1 - She was stunned: This sentence is the shortest part in the question. It has a very simple construction. There is no exclamation mark, which means that the reaction was not too excited. The word ‘stunned’ implies that the subject ‘she’ was left speechless. This could be a good or bad thing. To understand that, let us look at the next part.

Part 2 - Her parents had elaborately, and quite silently, organized a party for her: In this part, we get context for why the subject was stunned. The subject’s parents had organised a party for the subject. They had kept it a secret. However, we do not know why. Now, let us look at the next part.

Part 3 - and made sure that she remains oblivious to their intentions till the day arrived: This sentence continues the meaning of the previous part, it further illustrates that the subject was not aware of the party. The word choices are also very specific - ‘oblivious’. However, we still do not know what the party was for, or whether it had good intentions.

So, we conclude that the subject was surprised when she found out that her parents were throwing a party for her, but not too shocked, because there is no exclamation mark.

Now, let’s look at our options:

a) shock - The first part implies shock, however, not to a degree where the complete sentence would imply shock. The latter parts do not imply shock. So, this is an incorrect answer.
b) context to a statement - This option suggests that the above sentences provide context to something else. This option fits perfectly, as quite a lot of information is missing. So, the correct answer is “Option b”.
c) laziness - This option suggests that the subjects in the sentence are lazy. This is the exact opposite of the situation implied. So, this is an incorrect option.
d) quick and dynamic - This option implies that the actions in the given sentence or the events are fast-paced. This is not true. So, this is also an incorrect option.

Note:
Try to understand the meaning of the given sentences. Make sure to understand what each word conveys and then, after scanning the sentences, choose the appropriate option.