#15

[nutcracker]

Hello! For this question, I had a hard time choosing between (A) and (D) because neither seemed very good to me.
The critics would have liked it if Invisible Man were more politically charged, but I'm not so sure about "creating a positive effect" in (A). Is that sufficiently supported by the text?
On the other hand, I see that (D) risks being a bit too broad by saying "American literature" when the text has "African American novelistic style", but does that necessarily kill it?
Thank you!

[Claire Horan]

To approach this hypothetical question of what critics would have approved of, look closely at their criticisms of Ellison around lines 9-15: they wanted him to "direct[] his art more toward the political action that critics believed was demanded" and to "contribut[e] to the development of a distinctly African American novelistic style."

Only choice A would contribute to either of these demands of the critics. Choice A's "creating a positive effect on the social conditions of the time" would show that he had been successful in focusing his art on the contemporary cultural and political needs of his identity group rather than the individual expression Ellison prized, as discussed later in the passage.

You have already pointed out what's wrong with D, and I wonder why you are not convinced. The critics wanted the development of "a distinctly African American" style, and that seems unrelated to separation between American and European style, doesn't it?

[hassan66]

I had a difficult time with this one, ultimately choosing A based off a process of elimination. B + C seemed to be really similar answer choices. The record and the tribute seemed to be pretty similar and I couldn't decide between the two so I eliminated them based on their similarities. Is this a valid conclusion to draw between the two and as reasons for dropping them?

My main concern with A was that how do we know he didn't have a positive impact on the social conditions? He wasn't as political as they wanted him to be but that doesn't mean that his art still didn't have an impact.

Thank you!

[Brook Miscoski]

hassann66,

In general, if two answer choices were identical, then neither could be correct. This happens very rarely.

Answer choices (B) and (C) are not identical.

(B) is about a historical record, which is a very broad category.
(C) is about a tribute to political contributions, which, in topic, is considerably narrower than a historical record and, in total, contains the added element of praise.

Therefore you cannot eliminate these two choices on the grounds that they are identical.

The reason (A) is fine is that it would have been difficult for critics to argue that Invisible Man needed to have a broader political focus (which is what they argued in the passage) if the work had a positive social effect. The passage tells you that Ellis focused on the individual, not the broader social implications.

[itstanaya]

What's confusing me about (A) is the wording - "created a positive effect on the social conditions of the time." The text specifically says "...prevented him from directing his art more toward the political action that critics believed was demanded by his era’s social and political state of affairs..."

I would've chosen (A) if it had said "political conditions," but I'm just not sure how affecting social conditions is justified by the text of the passage.

[KelseyWoods]

Hi itstanaya!

You picked out the right quote from the passage so let's take another look at it: "his allegiance to the concerns of the individual prevented him from directing his art more toward the political action that critics believed was demanded by his era’s social and political state of affairs."

I underlined some terms for emphasis. Yes, the critics complained that he did not direct his art toward political action. But why did they want him to direct his art toward political action? Because they believed it was demanded by the era's social state of affairs. They wanted him to direct his art toward political action so that it would have a positive effect on the social conditions of the time.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey