Free Practice Question
RC · Reading Comprehension
705-805
Short Passage - Social Science
Reading Passage
Literature from the Midwestern United States is often relegated to the periphery of the American canon. Jon A. Lauck, in his book From Warm Center to Ragged Edge, attributes this marginalization to a statement of literary critic Carl Van Doren published in The Nation in 1921, during a period when the hierarchies of aesthetic and social values to be embodied by the canon were first delineated. Van Doren described the most interesting literature from the middle of the United States as that which could be characterized as a "revolt from the village." He celebrated authors who portrayed local life as stifling rather than satisfying and considered them artistic innovators and political visionaries. Lauck argues that Van Doren and other Eastern critics not only completely ignored Midwestern writers whose work deviated from this pattern but also substantially misunderstood the work of the writers who had been assigned to the "revolt" school, resulting in the exclusion of most Midwestern works from the "rootless, urban, elite version of American literature that persists to this day." Although she finds Lauck's omission of a definition of "the Midwest" troubling, Stephanie Foote considers his book "a triumph of research . . . and a compelling narrative" that provokes the reader to "take seriously the debates about which cultures are valued and which are not."
Which of the following statements about the works of Midwestern literature assigned to the "revolt from the village" school can be inferred from the passage?
(I) Jon Lauck believes that some of the works of Midwestern literature assigned to the "revolt from the village" school were misread by Eastern critics.
(II) When the American canon of literature was first discussed, some critics considered the works of Midwestern literature assigned to the "revolt from the village" school the most important literature from that region.
(III) Stephanie Foote finds Lauck's omission of a definition of "the Midwest" sufficient to dismiss his assessment of the works of Midwestern literature assigned to the "revolt from the village" school.
Answer Choices
Correct answer marked belowA
I only
I and II only
Correct
C
III Only
D
II and III only
E
I,II,and III
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What it tests
Your ability to understand a passage, its structure, and what the author is really saying. At the 705-805 level, accuracy and speed both matter.
Common trap
Answering from memory or outside knowledge instead of strictly from the passage.
Details
Difficulty
705-805
Type
RC
Category