When speaking of Romare Bearden, one is tempted to say, "A great Black

1. According to the passage, all of the following are depicted in Bearden's collages EXCEPT

(A) workers in Pittsburgh's steel mills
(B) scenes set in the ancient kingdom of Benin
(C) people Bearden knew as a child
(D) traditional representations of the classical heroes of Greek mythology
(E) the jazz musicians of the Harlem Bearden used to know

This question is a little tricky. We can find direct evidence in the passage for option A,C and E.So let's eliminate them.That leaves us with B and D.

From the passage his reconstruction of classical Greek myths in the guise of the ancient Black kingdom of Benin , that means he portrayed Black kingdom of Benin to refer classical greek myth..that is his reconstruction. So D is our go to option.

2) The author suggests that Bearden should not be called a Black American artist because

(A) there are many collages by Bearden in which the subject matter is not Black
(B) Bearden's work reflects the Black American experience in a highly individual style
(C) through the structure of Bearden's art his Black subjects come to represent all of humankind
(D) Bearden's true significance lies not so much in his own work as in his efforts to help other minority artists
(E) much of Bearden's work uses the ancient Black kingdom of Benin for its setting

Its pretty straight forward. It's basically the main point of Bearden who wants to convey something that is universal as stated in last sentence of the passage.

3. Bearden's social sensibilities and the subject matter of his collages are mentioned by the author in order to explain

(A) why one might be tempted to call Bearden a Black American artist
(B) why Bearden cannot be readily categorized
(C) why Bearden's appeal is thought by many to be ultimately universal
(D) how deeply an artist's artistic creations are influenced by the artist's social conscience (It is mentioned in the passage that his conscience could be a reason of the reflection of his work but the author has mentioned as a reason to prove that why should not we categorize Bearden as a Black American Artist.)
(E) what makes Bearden unique among contemporary Black American artists (he has not mentioned about any other artist for a comparison)

Let us understand the structure of the passage.. The author starts with giving us points why should not we categorize Bearden as a Black American Artist given relevant evidences, then goes on to answer because it's too narrow and then reflects the point of view of Bearden himself.
So our answer is A.

4. The author of the passage is chiefly concerned with

(A) discussing Bearden's philosophy of art
(B) assessing the significance of the ethnic element in Bearden's work
(C) acknowledging Bearden's success in giving artistic expression to the Black American experience
(D) pointing out Bearden's helpfulness to other minority artists
(E) tracing Bearden's progress toward artistic maturity

The author starts with giving us points why should not we categorize Bearden as a Black American Artist given relevant evidences, then goes on to answer because it's too narrow and then reflects the point of view of Bearden himself.

The author basically says since he his works portray x,y,z etc why can't he be categorized as a Black American Artist ? Then explains the deeper understanding of those x,y,z....

blueshores Hope it helps

SajjadAhmad Good work Mate. Please tag me in case any of the passages need an explanation. Kudos to you