LSAT 134 | Section 4 | Reading Comprehension: Q25

RC Question 25 Explanation

DISCUSSION: The critics from lines 3-4 are never mentioned again, so we have to base our answers on Dostoyevsky’s opinions. While Dostoyevsky did use fantasy, lines 10-12 show that he was a realist. He wouldn’t have liked the idea of standing above the present and mundane reality.

Note that the critics from lines 3-4 never mention fantasy. Standing above the present doesn’t necessarily refer to fantasy. It could refer, for example, to only writing heroic descriptions of important, real events from Russia’s history.

___________

1. The critics from lines 3-4 never said anything about the fantastic. They said art should stand above the present. Those aren’t necessarily the same thing.
2. Dostoyevsky does think that reality is more than just the everyday. But line 10 makes clear that Dostoyevsky was a realist. He didn’t think art should stand above reality. 
3. CORRECT. Lines 10-12 support this. Even though Dostoyevsky used fantasy, he thought literature must be grounded in reality.
4. Lines 3-4 never mention fantasy. So we have no idea whether or not the idealist critics made such a distinction.
5. This describes the view of the critics from lines 5-9. We’re talking about the critics from lines 3-4.