By the mid-nineteenth century, the conviction of early nineteenth-century European intellectuals and artists that the willful, energetic dynamism of t...
GMAT Reading Comprehension : (RC) Questions
By the mid-nineteenth century, the conviction of early nineteenth-century European intellectuals and artists that the willful, energetic dynamism of the human imagination creates what we know of reality was being reshaped. In philosophy, the adherents of positivism argued that nature is independent of the imagination and that knowledge consists only in the proper connection of sense data. Historian like von Ranke and Buckle argued that the existence of "objective fact" enabled them to record with accuracy what actually happened in the past. And W. K. Clifford, in 1874 claimed that "all competent people" accept that sensation, thought, and emotion can be explained by "change in the condition of the matter" in the brain.
For the creative arts, the most influential evidence for an objective reality independent of the imagination came as a result of the rapid changes in photography during the 1850's. The immense effort of the previous generation of Romantic poets and painters to undo the damage of empiricism by proving that the imagination creates reality was completely undermined. They had worked passionately to convince others that their versions of the world were real, though hostile critics had found 11 easy to dispute such claims. Now, with the advent of photography, the painters' position became untenable. The mindless photograph challenged the poet or painter to deny that an objective, despicable nature was out there separate from the mind.
Painters, as if shamed by the precision of photo-graphic images, began to paint not the greatest number of the greatest ideas, which art critic John Ruskin had held before than as a goal, but the greatest amount of accurate surface detail. Art once again turned from the lamp within toward the skills required to mirror social reality.
Novels of the mid-nineteenth century also show the effects of this growing concern with the "real" external world. No matter how visionary their approach, novelists strove to convince readers of the real-life accuracy of their fictions. Novelists such as Trollope and Thackeray begin novels by points out that the romance of narrative and extravagance of style practiced by their predecessors are eschewed in the present faithful account. In the preface to Bleak House, Dickens defends the symbolic episode of Krook's spontaneous combustion as documented fact with "about thirty cases on record".
On the stage, there was increased concern with verisimilitude. The steady progress from artfulness to naturalness can be charted most graphically in opera. From formal arrangements of dance and song, from mathematically arranged distortions and enhancements of human movements and human voice: opera moved step by step toward creating the illusion of real people engaged in reactions. The areas were absorbed increasingly into the flow of the drama, and verismo opera was the predictable outcome.
According to the passage, those critical of Romantic poets and painters contended that the works of these artists
1. Passage Analysis:
Progressive Passage Analysis
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| By the mid-nineteenth century, the conviction of early nineteenth-century European intellectuals and artists that the willful, energetic dynamism of the human imagination creates what we know of reality was being reshaped. | What it says: Around 1850, European thinkers and artists believed that human imagination creates reality, but this belief was changing. What it does: Sets up the main topic and hints at a historical shift Source/Type: Author's historical observation Connection to Previous Sentences: Opening statement - establishes the foundation Visualization: Timeline: Early 1800s → Belief: "Imagination creates reality" By 1850 → This belief was "being reshaped" (changing) Reading Strategy Insight: This opening tells us we're tracking a CHANGE in thinking. The passage will show us what the old belief was and what it became. What We Know So Far: There was a shift in European intellectual thinking around 1850 What We Don't Know Yet: What caused this shift, what the new belief became |
| In philosophy, the adherents of positivism argued that nature is independent of the imagination and that knowledge consists only in the proper connection of sense data. | What it says: Philosophers called positivists said nature exists separately from imagination, and real knowledge comes only from connecting sensory information. What it does: Provides first example of the "reshaping" mentioned in sentence 1 Source/Type: Factual description of philosophical position Connection to Previous Sentences: This directly shows us what "being reshaped" means! Old belief: imagination creates reality. New belief: nature is independent of imagination. Visualization: Old View: Imagination → Creates → Reality Positivist View: Nature (independent) ← Imagination has no effect Knowledge comes from: Sense data + proper connections Reading Strategy Insight: Feel confident here - this is NOT new complexity. It's simply showing us the contrast the author promised. |
Why It's Wrong:
- The passage shows Romantics were actually opposing empiricism, not influenced by it
- The text states they worked to "undo the damage of empiricism"
- Critics weren't saying Romantics were too empirical - the opposite was true
Why It's Wrong:
- Photography came later and wasn't what critics were initially using against Romantics
- The passage shows critics were already disputing Romantic claims before photography
- The timeline shows criticism existed first, then photography made things worse
Why It's Right:
- Critics disputed the Romantics' claims that "their versions of the world were real"
- The word "dispute" means to challenge or deny the truth of something
- This directly indicates critics believed Romantic representations were false or inaccurate
- The passage structure shows this criticism existed before photography reinforced it
Key Evidence: "They had worked passionately to convince others that their versions of the world were real, though hostile critics had found it easy to dispute such claims."
Why It's Wrong:
- Social reality isn't the main focus of the critics' objections described in the passage
- The criticism was about whether imagination creates reality, not specifically about social issues
- The passage doesn't indicate critics were concerned with social themes specifically
Why It's Wrong:
- The passage doesn't suggest critics said Romantics ignored nature entirely
- The issue was how they depicted reality, not whether they depicted nature at all
- Romantics did paint nature, but critics disputed whether their versions were "real"