RC Question 9 Explanation
DISCUSSION: The question is asking about Chopin’s opinion, not the author’s opinion. Chopin rarely expresses her opinion, so most of the wrong answers can be eliminated because they are not things Chopin talks about.
Lines 38-40 answer this question: Chopin “didn’t share the local colorists nostalgia for the past.” This is the only direct opinion of Chopin’s about the local colorists.
Lines 22-28 describe the local colorists’ nostalgia.
___________
- CORRECT. By the 1870s and 1880s, women’s culture was in decline. The local colorists were fascinated with the objects of the former women’s culture, and the local colorists invested these objects with mythic significance. (lines 22-28).
Chopin did not agree with this nostalgia (lines 38-40). - Chopin was the one who described scenes dispassionately. See paragraph three.
- The local colorists were an inspiration for Chopin, but not necessarily for the New Women. The fourth paragraph doesn’t say who inspired the New Women.
Also, we’re looking for Chopin’s opinion, not what is true in the passage. - Lines 16-20 say that the local colorists were able to move through these new worlds as artists. It sounds like the local colorists were able to explore these new worlds.
Also, we’re looking for Chopin’s opinion, not what is true in the passage. - The third paragraph describes how Chopin used the conventions of the local colorists to describe scenes with scientific detachment. So Chopin would disagree with this answer.
Apologies if this is an obvious question as I’ve been having a substantial amount of success with RC although questions like these sometimes trip me up.
E was dangerously close to being chosen – but where did it mention ‘scientific devotion’? Am I miscomprehending what it means or just overlooked the text?
Thanks again, Graeme and co, hope y’all’s endeavors are successful in life.
I assume you mean scientific detachment (and not devotion).
The phrase first appears in the second paragraph, where the passage says the local colorists “observed culture and character with almost scientific detachment. In the third paragraph, it describes how Chopin later used their conventions to handle extreme psychological states “without resorting to the excesses of sentimental novels” and “in an uninflected manner”. Those phrases describe scientific detachment.
So since she adopted that style successfully, she wouldn’t agree that their conventions prevented it. That’s why E is wrong.
Hope that helps! And I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying the explanations.
Aaminah,
Thanks for the speedy reply. I was thinking about this Q a lot and reread everything then noticed where I overlooked. Again, no rushing! Bad! But your explanation helped clear any doubts so much thanks.
Hi for 9, I just have a question about working. I understand why E would be right bcs she’s using their techniques for observing culture and character with scientific detachment so she wouldn’t say their convention prevent them from doing so, since she using them for that purpose. However for A, i don’t understand how not sharing their view of nostalgia for the past is the same as thinking the view is misguided. I felt like this was too strong but should I just have chosen it due to POE?
Good question. You’re right about E.
On A, the key is that the passage tells us Chopin “did not share the local colorists’ growing nostalgia for the past.” That’s not just neutral disagreement. It suggests she thought their way of idealizing “women’s culture” was the wrong direction to take, since she herself wanted to move beyond it (toward the New Women writers).
As more general advice, when a question asks which statement the author would have been MOST likely to agree with, there’s some leeway for an answer choice that’s a little stronger than what the passage might use. You’re supposed to make an inference and choose a stance the author seems to align with. If she wanted to move past this nostalgia she didn’t share, then it’s reasonable to infer she might have viewed it as misguided.
It’s not solely process of elimination. But PoE is a fair way to go about it if you’re not entirely sure whether to choose an answer. If everything else clearly contradicts the text or introduces completely new ideas, and one answer seems correct but is slightly stronger or weaker than you thought, it’s still a good answer as you’re looking for the closest match. Hope that helps!