Reading comp PrepTest 113 · Section 1 · Question 20

Topic: Humanities

Paragraph 1

• Paragraph note
  • Two criticisms of Ellison's Invisible Man (too focused on the individual to spur political action, too European)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • List of two related criticisms of Ellison's Invisible Man:
    • Ellison was too focused on the individual to spur the political activity demanded by his era (last sentence)
    • Ellison was too focused on European fictional techniques to contribute to an African American novelistic style (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

• Paragraph note
  • Ellison's response (artists shouldn't ignore their individuality to serve a political or cultural purpose)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Ellison's view:
    • Telling artists to ignore their individual identities and unique perspectives to serve a political or cultural goal is demeaning to artists and their audiences (first through last sentences)

Paragraph 3

• Paragraph note
  • Author's on Invisible Man's similarity to jazz (both transform European forms into personal art)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Comparison, according to the author:
    • Both jazz and Invisible Man were influenced by European forms but expanded on these forms, creating art that is personal and expressive (second and last sentences)
  • Author's attitude: "may be of more help" (first sentence), "never" (second sentence), "transform ... unique and personal but also expressive of African American culture" (second sentence), "avoided the mere recapitulation" (last sentence), "using his work to explore and express the issues of identity and character" (last sentence)

Paragraph 4

• Paragraph note
  • More on Invisible Man's similarity to jazz (protagonist's relationship to cultural inheritance parallels jazz solos)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Comparison, according to the author:
    • The Invisible Man's protagonist is isolated but still connected to a European and African American cultural community, which parallels a soloist in jazz's connection to the band's rhythm section (first through last sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "rich mode' (first sentence), "proves" (last sentence), "unique voice" (last sentence)

Main Point: Comparing Ellison's Invisible Man to jazz music provides a model to understand Ellison's artistic goals and accomplishments. 

Correcting the Record: We think the Correcting the Record Meta-Structure best fits this passage's structure.* In a Correcting the Record passage, the author describes a common misconception or false belief. Then, the author explains why the beliefs are false and will occasionally offer an alternative belief. That is exactly what the author does in this passage.

In the first paragraph, the author introduces critics who take issue with Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man. These critics argue that Ellison was too preoccupied with the individual to be sufficiently political and too focused on European forms to contribute to a uniquely African American novelistic style.

After quoting Ellison's response to these criticisms, the author corrects the record. The author shows that jazz provides a useful model to assess and understand Invisible Man. The author compares Ellison's use and transformation of European novelistic techniques to jazz's use and transformation of European-influenced music to show how both expanded on their source material to create unique and personal art. The author also compares Ellison's protagonist, who is simultaneously alienated and connected to a cultural community, to jazz soloists.

In a Correcting the Record passage, the main point is either an explanation of why the misconception is false or, if the author provides an alternative belief, the author's opinion about that belief. In this passage, the author provides an alternative belief: that comparing Invisible Man to jazz helps us understand Ellison's artistic mission and accomplishments. So, we've summarized the main point as: "Comparing Ellison's Invisible Man to jazz music provides a model to understand Ellison's artistic goals and accomplishments."

*As is the case with many passages that fall into the Critical Meta-Structure family, several different Meta-Structures could work for this passage. You could easily classify it as a Rebutting Critics or Criticizing a Viewpoint passage, as the author both defends Ellison and shows why his critics' views are mistaken. You could even argue that this is an Innovative [Subject] passage. Ultimately, since the author provided a new way of examining Ellison's novel that "may be of more help than those employed by its critics," we thought a Correcting the Record passage best fit this passage's argument. Still, any of these Meta-Structures would provide a helpful understanding of the passage's main point and organization.

Comparison: The most prominent minor Meta-Structure is the comparison. The author compares Invisible Man to jazz over the course of two paragraphs. We should highlight or note these similarities, as they are bound to figure into several questions.

This passage is organized in a helpful way! The first paragraph is dedicated to the critics' argument. The second features Ellison's response. The last two outline the author's argument. If any question asks about one of these players' views, we'll know where to look to anticipate the answer.