Reading comp PrepTest 104 · Section 3 · Question 23

Topic: Humanities

Paragraph 1

• Paragraph note
  • Frueud’s essay on “The Uncanny” defines the literature of the supernatural by means of human fear and the impulse of repression.
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Freud’s “The Uncanny” defined for the 20th century the literary genre of the Sublime (first sentence)
    • People fear the supernatural in literature and life (second sentence)
    • People believe in the supernatural because of the “omnipotence of thought” = power of human minds over natural world (third sentence)
    • Uncanny - produced by repression (fourth sentence)
  • Author’s attitude: “have defined” (first sentence); “according to Freud” (second sentence); “Freud locates” (third sentence); “Freud called repression” (fourth sentence)

Paragraph 2

• Paragraph note
  • Freud rejected fairy tales as instances of the supernatural because everything is possible in them and nothing provokes conflict in the reader.
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Reasonable to assume Freud would find literary instances of the supernatural in fairy tales (first sentence)
  • Freud specifically rejected fairy tales as sources of the supernatural b/c everything is possible and nothing is fantastic (second sentence, fifth sentence), so nothing provokes a conflict in the reader (fifth sentence)
  • Author’s attitude: “seemed likely” (first sentence); “connected with repressed desires” (first sentence); “Freud specifically excluded” (second sentence); “thus Freud, alas” (sixth sentence)

Paragraph 3

• Paragraph note
  • Psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim interpreted fairy tales in a Freudian way, highlighting how young children understand them.
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Bettelheim analyzes fairy tales closely and with orthodox Freudian interpretation (first sentence)
  • Bettelheim’s book is an achievement, showing how young children read and understand (second sentence)
  • Author’s attitude: “wise innocence” (first sentence); “apparent ignorance” (second sentence); “splendid achievement” (second sentence); “brimming with useful ideas and insights” (second sentence)

Paragraph 4

• Paragraph note
  • Bettelheim argues that the problems of autistic children are addressed directly by fairy tales.
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Bettelheim analyzes fairy tales inasmuch as they help counter autistic childrens’ tendencies to wifhdraw (first sentence)
    • These tendencies are addressed directly by fairy tales (second sentence)
    • Parents enhance the therapeutic effect of fairy tales by telling them to children themselves because the child knows the parents approve of the tales (third sentence)
  • Author’s attitude: “major therapeutic concern” (first sentence); “inevitably” (first sentence); “a child’s desperate isolation” (second sentence); “addressed directly by fairy tales” (second sentence); “parents strengthen” (third sentence)

Paragraph 5

• Paragraph note
  • According to Bettelheim, fairy tales are therapeutic for children because children interpret them to assist with resolving inner conflicts.
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Why are fairy tales therapeutic, according to Bettelheim? (first sentence)
    • Children interpret fairy tales in order to help resolve solutions to inner conflicts (second sentence)
  • Two assumptions on Bettelheim’s part:
    • children interpret a story benignly for their own good (third sentence)
    • Freudian interpretations will accurately reflect children’s interpretations (third sentence)
  • Children and analysts analyze the stories similarly (fourth sentence)
  • Author’s attitude: “Bettelheim’s answer” (second sentence); “Bettelheim proceeds” (third sentence); “questing for help” (fourth sentence); “attempting to find helpful patterns” (fourth sentence)

Main Point: While Freud excluded fairy tales from his definition of the literary supernatural because he argued that they don’t provoke an inner conflict in the reader, psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim argues that fairy tales are therapeutic tools that autistic children can interpret to help resolve their inner conflicts.

Paragraph 1, Sentence 1 (P1 S1) - Importance of Freud’s definition of the literary supernatural

P2 S2 - Freud did not consider fairy tales to be supernatural

P2 S5 - Freud excluded fairy tales because they provoke no inner conflict in the reader

P3 S2 - Bettelheim used fairy tales to illuminate how young children read and understand

P4 S2 - Bettelheim’s contention that fairy tales are therapeutic for autistic children

P5 S2 - Bettelheim says fairy tales are therapeutic because children interpret them to resolve inner conflicts

Innovative Subject: This passage uses an Innovative Subject Meta-Structure. It begins by describing Freud’s view of fairy tales and how they lack psychoanalytic utility, then goes on to describe Bruno Bettelheim’s opposing view that, for autistic children, fairy tales are directly therapeutic because they allow children to interpret them in such a way as to find guidance in resolving their own inner conflicts. The author thus contrasts Bettelheim’s view with Freud’s, not declaring one to be correct and the other incorrect, but pointing out how Bettelheim’s approach to fairy tales as therapeutic tools is innovative and helpful when considering the thought processes and conflicts of autistic children.

The minor Meta-Structure evident in this passage is Comparison. The author begins with Freud’s view of fairy tales in order to contrast it with the view of the less prominent Bettelheim, and in order to cast Freud’s interpretation as the old, and Bettelheim’s interpretation as the new and innovative, approach to the subject.

The author’s viewpoint is made clear in this passage by language that praises Bettelhiem’s book, including “wise innocence” (P3 S1), “splendid achievement” (P3 S2), and “brimming with ideas and insights” (P3 S2). This indicates the author approves of Bettelheim’s approach and respects Bettelheim’s interpretations. The author’s opinion of Freud is less clear, but the language used with respect to Freud’s views on fairy tales is mostly neutral.

This is an odd kind of hybrid passage. Its subject is not exactly Social Science and not exactly Humanities, and its structure is mostly Innovative Subject but verges at times on Old Approach/New Approach. The author stops short of praising Bettelheim at the expense of Freud, however, and because of this, it cannot be said that the author agrees with Bettelheim and disagrees with Freud. It is possible that the author can see merits to both points of view, but the author’s exact position is unclear. So we stick with Innovative Subject as the Meta-Structure of this passage.