In persons with astigmatism, the clear outer layer of the eye is deformed in a way that impairs and sometimes...
GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions
In persons with astigmatism, the clear outer layer of the eye is deformed in a way that impairs and sometimes distorts vision. The elongated figures in the paintings of El Greco (1541–1614) were so unusual that some critics sought to explain them by hypothesizing that, without knowing it, El Greco had an astigmatism that caused everything to appear to him in the distorted way that was characteristic of his painted figures.
The proposed explanation is most vulnerable to the criticism that it fails to
Passage Analysis:
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
| In persons with astigmatism, the clear outer layer of the eye is deformed in a way that impairs and sometimes distorts vision. |
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| The elongated figures in the paintings of El Greco (1541–1614) were so unusual that some critics sought to explain them by hypothesizing that, without knowing it, El Greco had an astigmatism that caused everything to appear to him in the distorted way that was characteristic of his painted figures. |
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Argument Flow:
The passage starts with medical background about astigmatism and how it distorts vision, then presents critics' theory that El Greco's distinctive elongated painting style resulted from his unconscious astigmatism making everything appear distorted to him.
Main Conclusion:
There isn't really a main conclusion here - this passage presents critics' hypothesis that El Greco's unusual painting style was caused by his astigmatism.
Logical Structure:
This follows a background-to-theory structure: medical fact about astigmatism → critics' application of that medical knowledge to explain El Greco's art style. The critics are essentially saying 'astigmatism causes visual distortion, El Greco painted distorted figures, so maybe he had astigmatism.'
Prethinking:
Question type:
Misc - This is asking us to identify a flaw or vulnerability in the critics' explanation about El Greco's painting style
Precision of Claims
The key claim is qualitative - critics propose that El Greco's astigmatism caused him to see distorted figures, which he then painted exactly as he saw them
Strategy
We need to think about logical gaps or flaws in the critics' reasoning. The explanation assumes that if El Greco saw things distorted due to astigmatism, he would paint them exactly as he saw them. We should look for what this explanation overlooks or fails to consider about how vision, perception, and artistic creation actually work.
This focuses on whether vision correction was available during El Greco's time period. However, the critics' explanation doesn't depend on whether correction was available - it's about El Greco unconsciously painting what he saw due to unknown astigmatism. Whether treatment existed is irrelevant to the logical structure of their argument.
The frequency of astigmatism in the 1500s and 1600s doesn't matter for evaluating this specific explanation about El Greco. The critics aren't making a statistical argument about how common the condition was - they're proposing it as a possible explanation for one specific artist's style.
Whether the critics themselves had astigmatism is completely irrelevant to the logical validity of their explanation about El Greco. This would be an ad hominem consideration that doesn't address the actual reasoning being proposed.
This identifies the key flaw in the explanation. If El Greco had astigmatism that made everything appear distorted, then when he looked at his own paintings (which he was actively creating), those paintings would also appear distorted to him through the same astigmatism. He would see the elongation in his work and could adjust it if he wanted to paint 'normally.' The explanation fails to consider this crucial circular effect.
Whether artists see the world differently than non-artists doesn't directly challenge the astigmatism explanation. The critics' argument is specifically medical/physiological, not about artistic perception or creativity. This choice addresses a different type of explanation entirely.