Top Law Schools

(I'm not sure how much of the question I can post on the forum so I'm going to be kind of vague, hopefully you guys have the passage)

I know this is not a difficult one but I think I may be reading too much into the question or just kind of missing the point.

The last two questions 6 and 7 in the Reading Comprehension #2 passage regarding the post World War I artists...

#6 says "According to the author, the work of the pre-World War I painters described in the passage contains an example of each of the following EXCEPT:"

I'm looking at choice D or E. My reasoning went 2 ways. The first reasoning, which is the simpler, following the author's thinking pattern made me choose E because "the power to predict social change" the author disagrees with this. But my second (faulty) reasoning took over and I chose D. I figured the question is asking me, the passage contains examples of all of the following choices EXCEPT. I figure that there was perse an example of an artist with "the power to predict social changes", like it was made reference to, though the author disagrees that this is true. But I can't find any example of "the ability to anticipate later artists".

#7 Which one of the following characteristics of the painters discussed in the second paragraph does the author of the passage appear to value most highly?

This one I reasoned the same was as above. The first reasoning is simply, following the author, what does the author like/agree with and dislike/disagree with. Obviously the author valued the artists stylistic and aesthetic accomplishments over any seemingly prophetic visions. However the question stem tripped me up once again. The question makes the focus only on the second paragraph which basically talks all about artists being credited for not only developments of arts but also political and social disruptions and upheavals. One critic goes so far as to claim that its the prophetic power of the artworks that gives them their value. Well which characteristic of the painter in the second paragraph does the author of the passage APPEAR to value most highly? I had to choose B. I mean it APPEARS at least limited to this second paragraph that the author is somewhat putting the spotlight on the visionary nature of their social views.

Okay this was long. Help please =)

ArcaneXavioss wrote:I figured the question is asking me, the passage contains examples of all of the following choices EXCEPT. I figure that there was perse an example of an artist with "the power to predict social changes", like it was made reference to, though the author disagrees that this is true.

Two things. First, you're not parsing this question correctly. The question is NOT asking about things the passage contains. It's asking about things "the work of the pre-World War I painters described in the passage contains."

Second, and more importantly, the question is asking to be answered "[a]ccording to the author." So answer the question as the author would.

It's an EXCEPT question, so we have to figure out what the author DOESN'T think these people's work contained. You recognized that the author disagrees that these works exhibited any power to predict social change. That makes E a perfect "EXCEPT" answer here.

But I can't find any example of "the ability to anticipate later artists".

"So fundamental is this break with tradition that it is not surprising to discover that these artists—among them Picasso and Braque in France, Kandinsky in Germany, and Malevich in Russia—are often credited with having anticipated not just subsequent developments in the arts, but also . . . "

#7 Which one of the following characteristics of the painters discussed in the second paragraph does the author of the passage appear to value most highly?

This one I reasoned the same was as above. The first reasoning is simply, following the author, what does the author like/agree with and dislike/disagree with. Obviously the author valued the artists stylistic and aesthetic accomplishments over any seemingly prophetic visions.

In both of these questions, your "simple" reasoning seems to have served you well.

However the question stem tripped me up once again. The question makes the focus only on the second paragraph which basically talks all about artists being credited for not only developments of arts but also political and social disruptions and upheavals. One critic goes so far as to claim that its the prophetic power of the artworks that gives them their value. Well which characteristic of the painter in the second paragraph does the author of the passage APPEAR to value most highly? I had to choose B. I mean it APPEARS at least limited to this second paragraph that the author is somewhat putting the spotlight on the visionary nature of their social views.

Again we have a parsing problem. It's not asking you what the author values most highly (or puts the spotlight on) in the second paragraph. It's asking what characteristic of the painters discussed in the second paragraph the author values most highly.

B can't be right because the author doesn't see the visionary nature of their social views--his whole piece is written to discredit the idea that these guys were socio-political prophets. C and E should be the only answer choices even on the radar.

C is going to win here because the author said straight up, "[T]he forward-looking quality attributed to these artists [Which artists? The ones discussed in the second paragraph!] should instead be credited to their exceptional aesthetic innovations."