Reading comp PrepTest 123 · Section 4 · Question 7

Passage

 For decades, there has been a deep rift between poetry and fiction in the United States, especially in academic settings; Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage SummaryTopic: Humanities

Paragraph 1
  • Paragraph note
    • A divide is explored
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Poetry vs. Fiction - Rift in US for decades
    • Grad programs and professionals a part of it
    • Conventional Wisdom - Poetry - Emo; Fiction - Character/story


Paragraph 2
  • Paragraph note
    • Author asks and answers question about background of split
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Why are they split?
    • Potential answer - US Widespread View - Suspicion of generalist/dilettantes


Paragraph 3
  • Paragraph note
    • Signs split is diminishing, with a key example
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author - Fortunate that split is eroding
    • Example - Rita Dove (speech and background); Germany


Paragraph 4
  • Paragraph note
    • Dove, and how she brings the genres together
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Dove - Little sense to split poetry and fiction
    • Combo = lyric narrative
    • Dove poems - Lyrical, but have story
    • Dove fiction - Prose, but has poetic rhythm


Main Point:
Despite a long-standing split between poets and fiction-writers, a fortunate recent trend to blending the genres is exemplified by the work of Rita Dove.

Key Lines:
Lines 1-3 - A split is established
Lines 15-17 - A potential reason for the split is suggested
Lines 21-24 - The Author says the split is fortunately ending
Lines 24-25 - The example explored through the rest of the passage is introduced

Meta-Structure:
Bringing the Sides Together - The Author starts by establishing a split between fiction and poetry in the US (Lines 1-3). After he explores the background of that split, he notes that it's "[f]ortunately" coming to an end (Lines 21-22), and he highlights Rita Dove as a prime example of this (Lines 24-25). Her writing is categorized by the Author as "lyric narrative" (Line 42), bringing together the characteristics that he previously attributed to each genre (Lines 8-11). When the Author brings two viewpoints together, that resolved viewpoint is almost always the main point of the passage, reflected in what we wrote above.

Question/Answer - (Lines 13-20) Paragraph 2 explores the background of the split in the US by asking a question and then providing a potential answer ("perhaps . . . "). This question and its answer don't dominate the passage, just one paragraph, so the Author's answer isn't the main point.

Generalization/Example - The Author's main point and clearest statement of opinion is a generalization in Lines 21-22. In order to back up this general claim about an erosion in the boundary between fiction and poetry, the Author cites "several recent writers," but he then dives into one as an "important example" (Line 24) - Rita Dove. Since she forms the basis for the rest of the passage, this extended example is a key element and should be reflected in the main point. We should also remember that she's there to back up a generalization—the passage uses Rita Dove as a premise supporting a more general conclusion, not as the conclusion itself.

Last Thoughts:
When the Author brings two sides together, we need to be clear on what he takes from both sides, and what characteristics/beliefs make up the combo. Here, the Author suggests that "lyric narrative" includes all of the cited elements of both poetry and fiction, but he goes into a few examples through Dove - what her poems sound like, and what her fiction sounds like. Let's keep these characteristics in mind as we work through the questions.

Question prompt

It can be inferred Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Humanities

Strategy Overview

Remind ourselves of the main point of the passage, then head to the answers, focusing on those that line up with the main point and then using our notes/the passage to find the correct answer

Answer Anticipation

This question stem provides no indication as to the topic of the correct answer or where it'll show up in the passage. As such, we'll need to rely on our big—picture understanding of the passage to answer this question. We should start by reminding ourselves of the main point (either by reviewing what we said after reading the passage or by rereading our answer to the main point question). From there, we can head to the answers, deferring on those that don't line up with the main point. For those that do, we'll use our notes and the passage to see if it's correct.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Each of Dove's works Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem
    Correct. (Line 40; Line 51—52) Wow, this is a hard correct answer. It seems to cut against the Author's view that the genres shouldn't be rigidly split. However, if we look at how he describes Dove's work in Paragraph 4, he talks about "her poetry" having narrative elements, and "passages in her fiction" as having lyric narrative and poetic rhythms. He never discusses a new type of writing that is half poem, half fiction — rather, he talks about poems and works of fiction with elements of the other. As such, this is the correct answer.
  2. B
    The aesthetic value of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 8—11) This answer makes it seem as if lyric narrative is valuable because of the elements it takes from fiction and not poetry, but the Author believes it's valuable because it takes both of these elements from their respective genres.
  3. C
    The way in which Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 23—25) Rita Dove is "[o]ne important example" of someone blending fiction and poetry, but she's just one of "several recent writers," so we can't say her work is without precedent. One of the other writers may have done it earlier, or there may be a few scattered examples from before the rift formed decades ago.
  4. D
    Narrative that uses lyrical Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. The Author never says that pure poetry or pure fiction is worse than lyric narrative, or any combination of the two genres. Rather, his problem is with the blanket rift between them that prevents the use of elements of one in the other. He could very well believe that there's some fantastic pure poetry out there that's at least as good as the best mixture of poetry and fiction!
  5. E
    Writers who successfully cross Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. There's no indication in the passage that Dove or any of the other writers who are breaking down the boundaries between poetry and fiction are trying their hand at other genres. (Also, wouldn't drama be fiction?)

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A Credited 38%
  2. B 12%
  3. C 36%
  4. D 9%
  5. E 5%

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