Reading comp PrepTest 102 · Section 1 · Question 12

Topic: Humanities

Paragraph 1

• Paragraph note
  • Old approach (1935-70 focus on nonliterary parts of Homeric poems)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Comparisons, according to the author:
    • In the last 20 years, the Homeric poems TheIlliad and the Odyssey have enjoyed a resurgence of critical interest. But between 1935 and 1970, scholars studied the nonpoetic aspects of the works, including exploring cultural, historical, and archaeological aspects (first through sixth sentences)
    • Only nonacademic intellectuals like Simone Weil and Erich Auerbach were studying the poetic aspects of Homer's work during this time period (second sentence)
    • Alexander Pope wrote in 1715 that, even back then, interest in the Homeric poems was philosophical, historical, and geographical rather than literary (last sentence)
  • List of "peripheral issues" scholars focused on between 1935 and 1970:
    • Whether the Trojan War happen (second sentence)
    • Whether the poet preserved Indo-European folk memories (third sentence)
    • How the poems got written down (fourth sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "new surge" (first sentence); "nonspecialists" (first sentence); "directed elsewhere" (second sentence); "driving scholars away" (fifth sentence); "peripheral issues" (fifth sentence); "virtually anything except" (sixth sentence); "unique reflections or distillations of life itself (sixth sentence) "great poetry" (sixth sentence)

Paragraph 2

• Paragraph note
  • What spurred the old approach (Milman Parry's argument that Homeric poems were products of advanced oral tradition) and the author's criticism of successors (dry)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Milman Parry's view:
    • Homeric poems were the product of a long tradition of oral poetry about the Trojan War, which had been built over many generations by many storytellers (first and second sentence)
  • Comparison, according to the author
    • After Parry's death in 1935, his successors emphasized the possibilities and limitations of oral poetry (third sentence)
  • Cause-and-effect relationship, according to the author
    • The dryness of the scholarship produced by Parry's immediate successors caused inventive scholars to focus instead on archaeology and history of Homeric poems (last sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "Ironically" (first sentence); "profoundly influential" (first sentence); "forsook intensive analysis of the poetry itself" (third sentence); "only one element" (third sentence); "dryness" (last sentence); "drove many of the more inventive scholars away" (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

• Paragraph note
  • Adam Parry's new approach (Homeric poems exist within an oral tradition but make unique contributions to that tradition)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Author's view:
    • Parry's son Adam has renewed interest in Homer's literary accomplishments by emphasizing the inherited oral tradition while showing how Homer made unique contributions to that tradition (first and last sentences)
  • Adam Parry's view:
    • Homer's poems exist within a long oral tradition but transcend and surpass these conventions (second and third sentences)
  • Author's attitude: "Appropriately" (first sentence); "literary art" (first sentence); "strong inherited tradition" (last sentence); "Homer's unique contributions" (last sentence)

Main Point: While Homer's epic poems have long been analyzed from a purely historical and archaeological standpoint, recent scholarly interest has focused on their literary qualities, recognizing that they make a unique contribution to the oral traditions they are a part of.

Paragraph1, Sentence 1 (P1, S1) - Recent resurgence of Homer's poems' popularity

P1, S3 - Old approach

P2, S3 - Origins of old approach

P2, S4 - Problem with old approach

P3, S3-4 - New approach

Old Approach/New Approach: This passage uses an Old Approach/New Approach Meta-Structure.* The author first describes the old scholarly approach to Homer's poems, which prevailed from 1935 to 1970. The author points to Milman Parry as the primary influence on that approach in the work before criticizing the approach. Finally, the author describes how Adam Parry has recently spearheaded a new scholarly approach to Homer's poems. In contrast, the new approach acknowledges the poems' historical background while appreciating them for the works of art that they are.

In an Old Approach/New Approach passage, the main point is generally the author's opinion on the new approach is generally the main point. To locate this opinion, we can see if the author provides a conclusion summarizing their opinion on the new approach. The author does that in the last sentence of the passage, so we can use that to assess the Main Point answer choices. We also fashioned our own version of the main point that references both approaches: "While Homer's epic poems have long been analyzed from a purely historical and archaeological standpoint, recent scholarly interest has focused on their literary qualities, recognizing that they make a unique contribution to the oral traditions they are a part of."

*As with many passages that use a Critical Meta-Structure, this passage could fit a few other Meta-Structures from that family. We could call this a Correcting the Record or Rebutting Critics passage. We could also expand to another Meta-Structure family and refer to this as an Innovative Subject passage, framing Adam Parry as the innovator. With any of these Meta-Structures, we'd come away with this passage with a helpful understanding of the passage's main point and organization.

Comparison: As you might expect in an Old Approach/New Approach passage, this passage's most prominent minor Meta-Structure is the comparison. The author makes many comparisons throughout the passage, drawing distinctions between the old approach and Simone Weil/Erich Auerbach's studies, between both Parrys and the old approach, and between Milman Parry and Adam Parry. The author also points out similarities between Alexander Pope characterization of Homeric scholarship in 1715 and that under the new approach. We recommend highlighting these comparisons, as they will likely figure into one or two questions.

We’re confident that Old Approach/New Approach describes this passage, but the truth is that things are a tad more complicated than what that Meta-Structure might suggest. We first have Milman Parry’s approach. That inspired his immediate successors. Then, inventive scholars are turned off by the work produced by Parry’s immediate successors, so they create the “old approach,” which focuses on the archaeology and history surrounding Homer’s poems. Finally, we have Adam Parry’s “new approach.”