Students struggle the most with the Global Conversation passages, especially when those passages are taken from the 16^th to the 18^th centuries. The difficulty often lies in the complicated sentence structures and unfamiliar vocabulary. However, with some practice, you can learn to recognize and decode the phrasing to increase your comprehension.

The following is a paragraph from Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography

At length, a fresh difference arising between my brother and me, I took upon me to assert my freedom, presuming that he would not venture to produce the new indentures. It was not fair in me to take this advantage, and this I therefore reckon one of the first errata of my life; but the unfairness of it weighed little with me, when under the impressions of resentment for the blows his passion too often urged him to bestow upon me, though he was otherwise not an ill-natur’d man: perhaps I was too saucy and provoking.

Comprehension Tactic: Divide and Conquer

One way to increase your comprehension is to simplify the sentences by identifying the main and dependent clauses, eliminating (at first) relative clauses and modifying phrases, and homing in on the key points.

Let’s start with the first sentence.

At length, a fresh difference arising between my brother and me, I took upon me to assert my freedom, presuming that he would not venture to produce the new indentures.

The sentence can be broken down in the following manner

Prepositional Phrase  At length

Noun Phrase               a fresh difference arising between my brother and me

Main Clause               I took upon me to assert my freedom,

Participle Phrase        presuming that he would not venture to produce the new indentures.

So, we have a Main clause and 3 modifying phrases, with the key information is the Main Clause:

I took upon me to assert my freedom,

Identify the subject and the main verb and the object 

I took my freedom

What does taking your freedom mean? To run away…to make oneself free.

Okay now let’s add the modifying phrases back to clarify.

At length= idiomatic phrasing that means “over time” or “eventually”

A fresh difference arising between my brother and me= a new argument between him and his brother

Presuming = I assumed

That he would not venture to produce the new indentures= He (brother) wouldn’t force me

Indentures= people in the 1700s were often indentured (temporarily enslaved) often because of indebtedness

**Sign of older writing. The second “sentence” demonstrates a key sign of older writing. That is, extreme length.

It was not fair in me to take this advantage, and this I therefore reckon one of the first errata of my life; but the unfairness of it weighed little with me, when under the impressions of resentment for the blows his passion too often urged him to bestow upon me, though he was otherwise not an ill-natur’d man: perhaps I was too saucy and provoking.

Yes, that is one sentence. A really, really long one, but a sentence nonetheless. However, we can use the same divide and conquer tactic to understand the key ideas.

Main Clause   It was not fair in me to take this advantage

Main Clause   and this I therefore reckon one of the first errata of my life

Main Clause   but the unfairness of it weighed little with me

Subordinate Clause    when under the impressions of resentment for the blows his passion too often urged him to bestow upon me

Subordinate Clause   though he was otherwise not an ill-natur’d man

Main Clause   perhaps I was too saucy and provoking.

(After a colon- so it explains something about the previous statement)

Simplify

1. It wasn’t fair for me to take advantage
2. I think this was my first mistake
3. But I wasn’t bothered
4. After he had often hit me
5. Though my brother wasn’t a bad man usually
6. So maybe I was disrespectful

 

Practicing this technique will make unfamiliar passage easier to understand, but yes it takes time and effort.