#2 - Specific Reference, Must Be True, Subject Perspective

[Khodi7531]

Just to start..this is a MBT right?


I was between D and E on this one, and used line reference 19-23 as support. To look for something this critic would agree too, I was prephasing that he doesn't believe their break from traditional art is what makes the artwork have prophetic power but the content and painting itself.

E I noticed is obviously strong...because it goes "little significance". Although I thought you could think that because the critic was saying that those aspects of their work, the style/technique, was not what was important (it was their content). I see now that even with that being said, "history of WWI" is pretty open and considering that this is a mbt (assuming it is) theres no way you can get to this. Is that a good way to get rid of E? Because I thought it was supported when I read "not their break with traditional technique" line 21.

[James Finch]

Hi Khodi,

Yes, this is a Must Be True question. Remember, this question is dealing with the perspective of an "art critic" mentioned in the passage, not that of the passage's author. So we have to be careful to only use the information given about the art critic and not what the rest of the passage gives us.

(D) fits very neatly with the characterization of the art critic's views given in 19-23 concerning the importance of the prophetic power of pre-WWI art. (E), on the other hand, is closer to an Opposite Answer, although not entirely; just because the art critic believes that the primary value of the artists' work is its prophetic power, doesn't automatically mean that the critic also believes that the art wasn't significant to later art/art history. The critic just believes whatever significance is overshadowed by the prophetic importance.

Hope this clears things up!

[snowy]

Hi! I also went with E but D was my other main contender.

I wasn't in love with E for the reason James mentioned, that it seemed to be a leap to say that just because the artistic techniques are less significant means that they are little significance to that whole era of art history. However, I found that to be a way smaller leap than D requires - we only have 4 lines about the art critic, and nowhere does the critic suggest the artists had insights into the European political situation, making it seem like this answer choice didn't even pass the Fact Test. I was also thrown off by the use of "shrewd" by answer choice D to describe the predictions; to me, the connotation of "shrewd" seemed to clash with the critic's terming of the artwork having "prophetic power."

How do these two issues not rule out D as an answer choice? Thank you so much in advance!

[Zach Foreman]

Snowy,
This is where prephrasing becomes invaluable.
How does the critic differ from the author? Well, the critic says the artists are valuable NOT because of their innovative artistic techniques but because they are "prophetic". We need to unpack this word and not just using that sentence. They were prophetic because they anticipated the "the political and social disruptions and upheavals of the modern world that came into being during and after the war."

So we would prephrase something like: eliminate answer choices that say the value of these artists are from style or artistic technique. Focus on answers that talk about their political predictions.
So we can easily eliminate A ("stylistic discoveries), B "traditional techniques", C. "stylistically" and E. "stylistically innovative". Only D talks about "prophecies", "predictions" and the "European political situation".
Remember, the whole argument boils down to "This guy is wrong when he says that these artists are important because they anticipated the political changes of WWI. Rather, they are important because they were innovative in their artistic style and technique." That's the whole argument. Only D shows that the critic had a "politics first" interpretation, rather than a "art first" interpretation.