Urgent，sentence comprehension

Question

Walt Whitman notoriously wrote his own anonymous reviews, which would not be out of place today on Amazon. “An American bard at last!” he raved in 1855. “Large, proud, affectionate, eating, drinking and breeding, his costume manly and free, his face sunburnt and bearded.”

what do“ would not be out of place today on Amazon” , "bard" , "eating drinking and breeding"mean?

"attempt to inform an already inundated world of our every reading, signing, review, interview and (well, one can dream!) TV appearance. "

"well, one can dream" here means?

"So writers today should take heart. We could dress like Lady Gaga and hang from a cage at a Yankees game — if any of us looked as good near-naked, that is. "

"On second thought, maybe there’s a reason we have agents to rein in our P.R. ideas. "

the above sentences means?

urgent ! thx a million!:)

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Hello, mnbvbn - and welcome to English Forums. Please do not expect or demand urgent responses here. We are here for recreational purposes; we do not get paid for answering questions.

“ would not be out of place today on Amazon”-- Would be normal on Amazon.com (in the book review section).

"bard"-- poetic word for 'poet'

"eating drinking and breeding" -- eating, drinking and making babies.

"well, one can dream"-- 'Well, I know this is can't really happen, but I can hope for it, anyway!'

"So writers today should take heart.-- So modern writers should have hope / be courageous

We could dress like Lady Gaga and hang from a cage at a Yankees game-- We could do outrageous things like that.

— if any of us looked as good near-naked, that is.-- That is, if we looked as good as Lady Gaga does with almost no clothing

"On second thought, maybe there’s a reason we have agents to rein in our P.R. ideas. "-- Thinking about it again, it is good that writers have agents to control or limit their (crazy) self-publicity ideas.

Mnbvbn · Answer

many thanks for your timely reply

but, here "bard at last", means " we finally got a real bard" or "i am the last bard in america"?

and as in" if any of us looked as good near-naked, that is" , "that is" means "that is good" or else?

does this passage suggest writers never rely on PR but on improving writing skills?

thanks a lot :)

Mister Micawber · Answer

Here "bard at last", means " we finally got a real bard".

and as in" if any of us looked as good near-naked, that is" , "that is" means "that is good" or else?-- That is =

by way of explanation, clarification, or an example.

does this passage suggest writers never rely on PR but on improving writing skills?-- It has nothing to do with writing skills. It says that writers would be bad writers' agents.

Mnbvbn · Answer

but why put "that is" at the end of the sentence

so why does author urge writers today pick up hope?

the original text link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/books/review/how-writers-build-the-brand.html?_r=1

thanks,

Mister Micawber · Answer

but why put "that is" at the end of the sentence? -- For dramatic or humorous effect, probably; it is the writer's choice. It could also be placed before 'if' or before 'looked' with no change in meaning.

so why does author urge writers today pick up hope?-- I don't know. That is a part of your assignment that you will have to decide yourself.

Mnbvbn · Answer

i really appreciate your replies , thx

hope any further questions will be ok for you.

Mnbvbn · Answer

excuse me , do you know the birthday of Tony Perrottet, and any detailed information about the writer Judith S. Baughman , i have googled it but got nothing, thanks.

Mister Micawber · Answer

I would have had to Google them, too.  Thank you for saving me the trouble.

Mnbvbn · Answer

sorry to bother you again,

in "he proudly appeared in ads for Pan Am and Parker pens, selling his name with the abandon permitted to Jennifer Lopez or LeBron James today. " abandon means?

"he plied them with good food and ale for three days, along with long recitations of his golden prose." golden prose means?

"Grimod insulted them as an audience watched from the balcony." means?

"It was a marketing coup. "means?

i'm really confused, thank you.

so nice of you

Mister Micawber · Answer

in "he proudly appeared in ads for Pan Am and Parker pens, selling his name with the abandon permitted to Jennifer Lopez or LeBron James today. " abandon means?-- With abandon = very freely, without concern.

"he plied them with good food and ale for three days, along with long recitations of his golden prose." golden prose means?-- Golden prose = wonderful writing

"Grimod insulted them as an audience watched from the balcony." means?-- Which words do you not understand? The sentence contain no idioms.

"It was a marketing coup. "means?-- It was a 'highly successful, unexpected stroke, act, or move; a clever action or accomplishment' in marketing.

Urgent，sentence comprehension

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions