RC Question 11 Explanation
DISCUSSION: The author tells us that poetry critics are focussing on other things, and not the poems themselves.
Pope’s quote shows that this is not a new phenomenon.
___________
- Pope doesn’t mention Homer. Pope was a poet himself, and he was probably referring to what critics said about his own work.
We don’t know what English critics thought of Homer. - Pope was talking about critics. He didn’t say anything about poets. Maybe they only focus on poetry.
- CORRECT. Poetry critics currently ignore the poems themselves. Pope’s quote shows that this is an old phenomenon.
- Pope wasn’t talking about Greek poetry. He was talking about poetry in general. Translation has nothing to do with anything.
- Actually, Pope’s quote shows that critics aren’t even bothering to interpret poetry. They’re focussed on other things: philosophy, history, geography, etc.
Apologies to ask about this passage again, but C doesn’t make sense to me. Lsat says ‘illustrate that the nonepeotical emphasis also existed in an earlier century.’
How does that show that “poetry critics currently ignore poems themselves”? Can you explain C in plain English, and an alternative way of how it proves this explanation, please
See my earlier response on Q8 for a passage breakdown.
Graeme writes: “Poetry critics currently ignore the poems themselves.” That’s just what the passage tells us. In paragraph 1, the author tells us that in the 1900s, people studied all the nonpoetic elements of Homer’s poetry instead of just focusing on the poetry itself.
The quote from Alexander Pope is from 1715 (200 years earlier). The quote says that poem critics focus on philosophy, history, geography, or anything else instead of the poetry.
So, the author uses the Pope quote to show that what was happening in 1715 is still happening in the 1900s – which is what C says.
Note that C doesn’t have to “prove” Graeme’s explanation. Graeme’s explanation describes why C is correct. So as Graeme writes, in the 1900s critics ignored the poems (i.e. focused on nonpoetic elements), and the Pope quote shows that this was happening in the 1700s too.
Let me know if you have further questions.
This was an amazing explanation!! Thank you Aaminah you’re awesome!