LATITUDE is a tricky word. Geography students know that LATITUDE refers to the distance north or south of the equator. But LATITUDE can also mean freedom of action in the sense of having room to make unhindered decisions.
The Civil War provides an excellent illustration of LATITUDE. On February 29, 1864, President Lincoln promoted Ulysses S. Grant to the rank of General-in-Chief of the Union armies. Realizing that Grant would need to order a rapid series of offensive maneuvers, Lincoln game Grant “the widest LATITUDE” to run the war.
SAT test writers have yet to create a vocabulary in context question about Lincoln or the Civil War. But they are very interested in the LATITUDE contemporary writers such as Claudia Rankine enjoy when they create “prose poems” that combine the continuous narrative of prose with the succinct language and images of poetry.
LATITUDE – freedom of action