Reading comp PrepTest 125 · Section 1 · Question 15

Topic: Humanities

Paragraph 1

• Paragraph note
  • Background on Walker (acclaimed, popularized the cakewalk) and the cakewalk (roots in West African ceremonial dances)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Comparison, according to the author:
    • The cakewalk was similar to West African ceremonial dances and, like other African American dances, featured African dance forms (last sentence)
  • Examples of African dance forms in the cakewalk, according to the author:
    • Gliding steps and improvisation (last sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "was a means of" (second sentence)

Paragraph 2

• Paragraph note
  • Development of cakewalk (ironic additions of European dances to parody slavers)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Author's view:
    • It's ironic that the European elements were meant to parody slavers but ended up helping popularize the cakewalk, which then got parodied by European American performers (first and last sentences)
  • Comparison, according to the author:
    • While African dances feature flexibility, large groups, and separate-sex dancing, the cakewalk developed into high-kicking walks with couples (first sentence)
  • Cause-and-effect relationship, according to the author:
    • The addition of European elements to the cakewalk caused the cakewalk to appeal to European Americans and become one of the first activities to cross North America's racial divide (second sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "Ironically" (second sentence); "self-important manners" (third sentence); "further irony" (last sentence); "helped shape" (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

• Paragraph note
  • Why the cakewalk's complex evolution made it popular (rapid changes in U.S. meant popular art had to possess many meanings)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Author's view:
    • The cakewalk's complexity aided its popularity at a time when things were rapidly changing in the United States and art had to mean many things to many different people to attract a large audience (first and last sentences)
  • Author's attitude: "complex evolution" (first sentence); "not a simple cultural phenomenon" (first sentence); "is in fact what enabled the dance" (first sentence); "had to be capable of being many things to many people in order to appeal to a large audience" (last sentence)

Paragraph 4

• Paragraph note
  • How Walker's cakewalk appealed to different groups (middle-class African Americans, middle/upper-class European Americans, newly rich)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Author's view:
    • Walker's success at popularizing the cakewalk stemmed from her interpretation's ability to appeal to different types of people (first sentence)
  • Examples of different groups who found something to enjoy in Walker's cakewalk, according to the author:
    • Middle-class African Americans enjoyed Walker's ability to refine the "disreputable" dance that was being parodied by European Americans at the time (second and third sentences)
    • Middle/upper-class European Americans, who felt threatened by the rapid changes of the time, were comforted by what they saw as the most authentic version of dance (fourth sentence)
    • The newly rich saw in Walker's grand flourishes a way to celebrate their wealth (last sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "remarkable success" (first sentence); "relatively rigid racial boundaries" (first sentence); "varying and sometimes conflicting demands" (first sentence); "refining" (third sentence); "fundamental grace" (third sentence); "tremendous cultural flux" (fourth sentence); "derived from her distillation of what was widely acclaimed as the most authentic cakewalk" (fourth sentence); "grand flourishes of her version" (last sentence)

Main Point: Walker popularized the cakewalk, a pre-Civil War African American dance that developed ironically over time, by emphasizing the complex and conflicting elements of the dance, allowing her version to mean many things to many people.

Phenomenon/Explanation: The Phenomenon/Explanation Meta-Structure best fits this passage.* In such a passage, the author describes an observable fact, behavior, or situation before offering one or more explanations of that observable fact, behavior, or situation. This passage follows that pattern, although the phenomenon is somewhat obscured. The passage notes that Aida Overton Walker popularized a dance called the cakewalk. The popularity of her version of the cakewalk could be considered a phenomenon, and the author proceeds to explain why her version became so popular. The passage notes that Aida Overton Walker (an aptonym for the ages) popularized a dance called the cakewalk. The popularity of her version of the cakewalk could be considered a phenomenon, and the author proceeds to explain why her version became so popular.

In a Phenomenon/Explanation passage, the main point is generally the author's explanation. To quickly articulate that main point, we can look for whether the author provides a conclusion that summarizes the explanation or their opinion on the explanation. The author summarizes their explanation at the beginning of the fourth paragraph, so we can use that sentence for questions where we need to consider the main point. Or we can use our own summary of the author's explanation, which adds some historical context about the cakewalk.

*Indeed, this passage isn't a perfect fit for any of the major Meta-Structures. However, in addition to Phenomenon/Explanation, Importance of [Subject] could work for this passage, which highlights why Walker's cake was important during its time. Question/Answer could also work since the passage answers the implicit question of why Walker's cakewalk was the most popular version of the dance.

Example (or List): The most prominent minor Meta-Structure appears in the fourth paragraph, where the author provides several examples (or a list) of groups to whom Walker's cakewalk appealed. The author also explains what made Walker's cakewalk appealing to each group. While these examples are limited to one paragraph, they directly speak to a key element of the main point — Walker's adaptation of elements of the cakewalk to appeal to different groups. So, we should expect a question or two about these groups.

Those two ironies listed in the second paragraph and referred to as "mimetic vertigo" in the third paragraph will likely be the focus of a question or two, so we should be prepared for that by knowing what makes the situation ironic — a parodic thing became celebrated by some of the people it parodied, and then some of those people began parodying the thing the original parodied them.