A review of the treatment of female characters in Chinese fiction reve

Question

New RC from 1988 Official Guide

(The following passage was adapted from a work published in 1976.)

A review of the treatment of female characters in Chinese fiction reveals that Chinese social attitudes have undergone dramatic changes. Prior to the twentieth century, women in novels were stereotypes lacking any features that made them unique individuals and were also subject to numerous restrictions imposed by the male-dominated culture. While authors of these novels often sympathetically portrayed heroines who experienced social oppression, they never questioned the position of women in Chinese culture. Not until the early twentieth century did Chinese fiction focus on women's emancipation, and then the subject became the backdrop of most novels that addressed the issue. After the Communist party established the People's Republic in the late 1940's, attitudes changed again: the gaining of women's rights was treated as one of many ongoing social revolutions, although from the beginning Communist party policy subordinated the women's struggle to the class struggle.

In spite of the fact that the authors who dealt with women's issues prior to 1949 agreed in principle that reforms had to be instituted, the outlook they depicted for reform was bleak. In their novels, a pattern recurs: after an initial break with social conventions, women falter in their goals or tragically end their lives, defeated by the overwhelming pressures of those conventions. If some writers viewed the emancipation of women as an achievable end, most tended to regard it as related to other seemingly unattainable social changes. Individualism alone would not lead to emancipation. Taking his cue from Ibsen's play A Doll's House, in which the heroine, Nora, leaves home because she resents her husband's treating her like a child, the writer Lu Hsün warned that Nora would need money to support herself; she must have economic rights in order to survive.

In contrast to this view of women in fiction in the early part of the century, fiction after the late 1940's is not so pessimistic. The deeper problems of socially prescribed roles for wife and daughter, for example, are not explored, but greater freedom for women is presented as the product of collective action. Novels of this period focus primarily on two specific issues: voluntary marriage and equal participation in work. After Mao Tse-tung's announcement of guidelines for a literature of socialist realism, this emphasis on women's rights became more pronounced. Most women in fiction after 1949 conform to the goals set for them by Communist party policy but still experience conflicts within family and group relationships as a result of the double burden placed on them by their domestic and job roles. Fiction of this period also depicts the problems of compensating women adequately for their work and of giving them access to jobs previously performed by men. Although these novels forcefully suggest that such reforms face much resistance, all clearly conclude that eventually this resistance can be overcome. And, in fact, the past two decades have seen the beginnings of some of these reforms in the lives of women in the People's Republic of China.   1 
 1. The passage is primarily concerned with discussing which of the following subjects?

(A) The impact on the Chinese novel of Mao Tsetung's guidelines for a literature of socialist realism
(8) The impact of Ibsen's plays on themes in twentieth-century Chinese literature
(C) Stylistic differences between pre-1900 and post-1900 Chinese fiction
(D) Changes in the role of women in Chinese society brought about by Communist party policy
(E) The characterization of women in twentieth-century Chinese literature

2 
 2. According to the passage, post-1949 Chinese fiction differs from earlier twentieth-century Chinese fiction in that it

(A) lacks a coherent philosophical point of view 
(B) views the possibility of social change with greater optimism
(C) is concerned primarily with entertaining rather than educating its readers
(D) ignores the problems facing groups other than women within Chinese society
(E) ignores the traditions and social conventions of Chinese culture

3 
 3. The author mentions Lu Hsiin's comments on A Doll's House in order to make the point that

(A) individualism, as presented in the play, benefits only the individual, not the community in which he or she lives
(8) Chinese writers looked to Western literature for evidence of pressures of social conventions similar to those pressures in their own culture
(C) Chinese writers felt the need to focus on the practical problems presented by a particular social environment as well as on personal needs
(D) the preoccupation in Western literature with women's emancipation blinded writers and thinkers to the broader social issues involved
(E) the treatment of women's emancipation in Western literature has little relevance to Chinese literature

4 
 4. The passage provides information for answering which of the following questions?

(A) How did the government of the People's Republic of China deal with resistance to their policy of adequately compensating women for their work?
(8) What are some of the problems encountered by female characters in novels describing life in the People's Republic of China after 1949 ?
(C) What were the goals set for Chinese women by Communist party policy?
(D) Do the stereotypes prevalent in Chinese fiction before the twentieth century still appear in Chinese literature?
(E) What initiated the first changes in the depiction of women in Chinese literature?

5 
 5. According to the passage, the struggle of Chinese women for liberation is portrayed in post-1949 Chinese literature as 
(A) a struggle with roots in pre-twentieth century events
(B) a product of pre-1949 social reforms
(C) subordinate to the maintenance of traditional social patterns
(D) part of a much larger struggle for liberation 
(E) hampered by unrealistic Communist party policy

6 
 6. Which of the following plots exemplifies what the author describes as the pessimism of the Chinese literature written between 1900 and 1949?

(A) A woman trained as an economist takes a posi- tion in her field, only to relinquish it because she realizes she cannot overcome her male colleagues' antagonism toward professional women.
(B) A 60-year-old widow, who manages her village's nursery, refuses to quit her job to help her daughter, who has just given birth to a child.
(C) A man in charge of a tea-curing plant selects a woman to fill his position when .he retires, but she must spend a long time battling the resentment of the male workers.
(D) A woman whose illness forces her temporarily to resign her full-time job in a food coopera- tive elects to work part-time in a bookstore.
(E) A daughter-in-law chooses not to stay home to care for her in-laws as is the custom, but takes a job in a factory and plans to advance to a management position.

7 
 7. Which of the following statements would be most likely to begin the paragraph immediately following the passage?

(A) The subject of women's emancipation, which had germinated years before, surfaced in public debate in the period after 1919.
(B) The pessimistic view of the emancipation of women in the 1920's was dispelled when it was seen that emancipation could be achieved by working with a series of limited and specific goals.
(C) A vivid reflection of the changes that occurred in Chinese fiction is found in Lo Pin-chi's novel, Mother Wang (1953).
(D) In an interesting reversal of the problems produced by the generation gap, Ju Chihchiian's novel, Wish Fulfilled (1959), depicts a son's difficulty in adjusting to his mother's newly acquired job and independence.
(E) Recently written Chinese fiction, unlike earlier works, is didactic and not philosophical.

8 
 8. The passage suggests that the author would most probably agree with which of the following statements about the relationship between Chinese novels written after 1949 and life in China during that period?

(A) The novels were slow to reflect changes in culture.
(B) The novels reminded citizens of their heritage and traditions, as well as pointed the way toward future possibilities.
(C) The novels provided government-sanctioned role models for citizens.
(D) The authors presented a variety of experiences far wider than normally common to their audience.
(E) The authors seemed to be indifferent to the problems created by women's familial and job responsibilities.

T1101 · Accepted Answer

1. The passage is primarily concerned with discussing which of the following subjects? 
(A) The impact on the Chinese novel of Mao Tsetung's guidelines for a literature of socialist realism Classic trap: this part is the point of the last paragraph not the passsage as a whole. 
(B) The impact of Ibsen's plays on themes in twentieth-century Chinese literature Again this is mentioned in the passage, but is not the main point. 
(C) Stylistic differences between pre-1900 and post-1900 Chinese fiction The passage does not talk about stylistic difference, it rather talks about how women were potrayed post 1900 Chinese literature, pre-1900 is only mentioned in the first paragraph. 
(D) Changes in the role of women in Chinese society brought about by Communist party policy Similar to A. 
(E) The characterization of women in twentieth-century Chinese literature Correct.

2. According to the passage, post-1949 Chinese fiction differs from earlier twentieth-century Chinese fiction in that it 
(A) lacks a coherent philosophical point of view
(B) views the possibility of social change with greater optimism  Correct --> First sentence of the second paragraph: " In contrast to this view of women in fiction in the early part of the century, fiction after the late 1940's is not so pessimistic. " 
(C) is concerned primarily with entertaining rather than educating its readers
(D) ignores the problems facing groups other than women within Chinese society
(E) ignores the traditions and social conventions of Chinese culture

3. The author mentions Lu Hsiin's comments on A Doll's House in order to make the point that 
(A) individualism, as presented in the play, benefits only the individual, not the community in which he or she lives  Paragraph 2 does not talk about benefits at all. 
(B) Chinese writers looked to Western literature for evidence of pressures of social conventions similar to those pressures in their own culture  Paragraph 2 does not talk about Western literature at all. 
(C) Chinese writers felt the need to focus on the practical problems presented by a particular social environment as well as on personal needs  Correct. Look at the sentence right before Lu hsiin's comment is mentioned... 
(D) the preoccupation in Western literature with women's emancipation blinded writers and thinkers to the broader social issues involved  Paragraph 2 does not talk about Western literature at all. 
(E) the treatment of women's emancipation in Western literature has little relevance to Chinese literature  Paragraph 2 does not talk about Western literature at all.

4. The passage provides information for answering which of the following questions? 
(A) How did the government of the People's Republic of China deal with resistance to their policy of adequately compensating women for their work?  Passage never talks about "resistance" 
(B) What are some of the problems encountered by female characters in novels describing life in the People's Republic of China after 1949 ?  Correct. This question is answered in paragraph 2 of the passage. 
(C) What were the goals set for Chinese women by Communist party policy? Goals set is mentioned in the 3 paragraph, but the goals are never explicitly stated. 
(D) Do the stereotypes prevalent in Chinese fiction before the twentieth century still appear in Chinese literature?  We know nothing about current Chinese literature... So this question is not answered in the passage. 
(E) What initiated the first changes in the depiction of women in Chinese literature? The first paragraph talk about the first change " While authors of these novels often sympathetically portrayed heroines who experienced social oppression, they never questioned the position of women in Chinese culture. Not until the early twentieth century did Chinese fiction focus on women's emancipation, and then the subject became the backdrop of most novels that addressed the issue.  ", but does not talk about what initiated it...

5. According to the passage, the struggle of Chinese women for liberation is portrayed in post-1949 Chinese literature as 
(A) a struggle with roots in pre-twentieth century events
(B) a product of pre-1949 social reforms
(C) subordinate to the maintenance of traditional social patterns
(D) part of a much larger struggle for liberation  Correct. Last sentence first paragraph: " After the Communist party established the People's Republic in the late 1940's, attitudes changed again: the gaining of women's rights was treated as one of many ongoing social revolutions, although from the beginning Communist party policy subordinated the women's struggle to the class struggle.  " 
(E) hampered by unrealistic Communist party policy

6. Which of the following plots exemplifies what the author describes as the pessimism of the Chinese literature written between 1900 and 1949? 
--> Important part of the passage: "  In their novels, a pattern recurs: after an initial break with social conventions, women falter in their goals or tragically end their lives, defeated by the overwhelming pressures of those conventions.  "

(A) A woman trained as an economist takes a posi- tion in her field, only to relinquish it because she realizes she cannot overcome her male colleagues' antagonism toward professional women. Correct. Shows the failing in reaching their goals and the defeat by the overwhelming pressure... 
(B) A 60-year-old widow, who manages her village's nursery, refuses to quit her job to help her daughter, who has just given birth to a child. Irrelevant 
(C) A man in charge of a tea-curing plant selects a woman to fill his position when .he retires, but she must spend a long time battling the resentment of the male workers. she doesn't fail... just takes long 
(D) A woman whose illness forces her temporarily to resign her full-time job in a food coopera- tive elects to work part-time in a bookstore. Failing becasue of illness not pressure... 
(E) A daughter-in-law chooses not to stay home to care for her in-laws as is the custom, but takes a job in a factory and plans to advance to a management position. This fits more with the 3 paragraph than with the 2.

7. Which of the following statements would be most likely to begin the paragraph immediately following the passage? 
(A) The subject of women's emancipation, which had germinated years before, surfaced in public debate in the period after 1919. Should be something after 1949, since last sentence moves discussion into to the post-1949 
(B) The pessimistic view of the emancipation of women in the 1920's was dispelled when it was seen that emancipation could be achieved by working with a series of limited and specific goals. Should be something after 1949... 
(C) A vivid reflection of the changes that occurred in Chinese fiction is found in Lo Pin-chi's novel, Mother Wang (1953). Correct, talks about changes in fiction and the book is called "Mother Wang", furthermore it talks about chinese fiction, like the last sentences of the passage. 
(D) In an interesting reversal of the problems produced by the generation gap, Ju Chihchiian's novel, Wish Fulfilled (1959), depicts a son's difficulty in adjusting to his mother's newly acquired job and independence. Geneartion Gap?? Not relevant + talks about the son rather than mother... 
(E) Recently written Chinese fiction, unlike earlier works, is didactic and not philosophical. Irrelevant...

8. The passage suggests that the author would most probably agree with which of the following statements about the relationship between Chinese novels written after 1949 and life in China during that period?

(A) The novels were slow to reflect changes in culture. Not true, it is not mentioned in the passage it rather shows that changes were made according to Mao Tse-tung 
(B) The novels reminded citizens of their heritage and traditions, as well as pointed the way toward future possibilities. While I would agree with the second half of this choice, it is not mentioned that the novels reminded citziens of thei heritage and traditions... 
(C) The novels provided government-sanctioned role models for citizens.  Correct. " After Mao Tse-tung's announcement of guidelines for a literature of socialist realism, this emphasis on women's rights became more pronounced. Most women in fiction after 1949 conform to the goals set for them by Communist party policy " 
(D) The authors presented a variety of experiences far wider than normally common to their audience.  Not mentioned that experiences are far wider in any way.... 
(E) The authors seemed to be indifferent to the problems created by women's familial and job responsibilities. Not true, the authors explicitly mention the problems by these two factors

Explanation for Q8 may not be sufficient, but I gave it a shot... Got it wrong when trying the question.

soapbolt · Answer

Can You please explain how come option C is the right answer for question 8

pandeyashwin · Answer

"Most women in fiction after 1949 conform to the goals set for them by Communist party policy but still experience conflicts within family and group relationships as a result of the double burden placed on them by their domestic and job roles"

mimishyu · Answer

For Q4,is this the clue???

Most women in fiction after 1949 conform to the goals set for them by Communist party policy but still experience conflicts within family and group relationships as a result of the double burden placed on them by their domestic and job roles.

-the author mention the problems(answer) :the conflicts within family and group relationships

TanmayT · Answer

Hi!  SajjadAhmad !

Can you please give us an idea of the difficulty level of the questions in this passage?

Thank you.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Question #1: 600
Question #2: 550
Question #3: 650
Question #4: 650
Question #5: 700
Question #6: 600
Question #7: 700
Question #8: 750

Overall: 650-700

mSKR · Answer

Most women in fiction after 1949 conform to the goals set for them by Communist party policy but still experience conflicts within family and group relationships as a result of the double burden placed on them by their domestic and job roles. Fiction of this period also depicts the problems of compensating women adequately for their work and of giving them access to jobs previously performed by men.

Summary: 
Novels: conform to the goals set for them by Communist party policy
BUT 
Means something in reality was different as defined by Communist party policy

(A) The novels were slow to reflect changes in culture.
Novels were defined based on defined policy, So we can’t comment on it

(B) The novels reminded citizens of their heritage and traditions, as well as pointed the way toward future possibilities.
Novels changed their view as per policy, These views were different pre-1940s. So this option can not be correct

(C) The novels provided government-sanctioned role models for citizens.
 Exactly : Matches with policy  -correct

(D) The authors presented a variety of experiences far wider than normally common to their audience.
Actually, we don’t know whether it was wider or narrower , we only know novels were based on policies.

(E) The authors seemed to be indifferent to the problems created by women's familial and job responsibilities.
Again, we don’t know whether authors were aware or not.

mSKR · Answer

After the Communist party established the People's Republic in the late 1940's, attitudes changed again: the gaining of women's rights was treated as one of many ongoing social revolutions, 
I don’t see any resistance.

Fiction of this period also depicts the problems of compensating women adequately for their work and of giving them access to jobs previously performed by men. 
Problems in accessing to jobs previuly performed by men,
Correct

conform to the goals set for them by Communist party policy 
We don’t know specific goals set for women. We only know that these goals were part of bigger revolution.

And, in fact, the past two decades have seen the beginnings of some of these reforms in the lives of women in the People's Republic of China.

We don’t know it still appears in novels. Content of recent novels is not mentioned.

A review of the treatment of female characters in Chinese fiction reveals that Chinese social attitudes have undergone dramatic changes. 
What initiated first changes , we don’t know

Shrey08 · Answer

Hello  Sajjad1994   Nikhil

Can you please post explanation for question 3 and 5?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Please read the explanation in the post in link below https://gmatclub.com/forum/a-review-of- ... l#p2180408 Thank you

mSKR · Answer

Taking his cue from Ibsen's play A Doll's House, in which the heroine, Nora, leaves home because she resents her husband's treating her like a child, the writer Lu Hsün warned that Nora would need money to support herself; she must have economic rights in order to survive. 
What's going on at this time in paragraph?
 In spite of the fact that the authors who dealt with women's issues prior to 1949 agreed in principle that reforms had to be instituted, the outlook they depicted for reform was bleak. xxxxxxxx. Individualism alone would not lead to emancipation 
The authors talked about emancipation but at this time they want to highlight the practical issues that would come when women took steps against the society ( e.g. leave home)
So we need to find a similar thought among the options.

no such thought is present in A( against what is mentioned; challenges for individuals) ; B, D and E( nothing about western ).
Read C again:

the thought is similar : practical problems for women who need to face on emancipation . Lu Hsiin's comments on A Doll's House is an example of that reference .

I hope it is clear.

mSKR · Answer

before you jump in answers. let's think for a moment what was going in in post-1949 Chinese literature
  Most women in fiction after 1949 conform to the goals set for them by Communist party policy but still experience conflicts within family and group relationships as a result of the double burden placed on them by their domestic and job roles. 
in post1940 fictions, there were guidelines about women in fiction under social reform that were taking place. But in reality, women were facing problems in home ( e.g.: why not take care of baby and do household things ) and in job ( why women take men jobs) . In summary , guidelines could be : men and women are equal . but in society there could be lot of resistance at ground.

So question is : this struggle is portrayed as what in post 1940 Chinese literature?
let's see options:
 
I would say: A and C are easy elimination.
There can some argument over C.
yes it could be part of maintenance of social patterns but not subordinate. The struggle was due to : society pressure vs CCP guidelines. If such emancipation was subordinate to social patters then this option become very weak. ( if it were mentioned : important to the maintenance of traditions, then we would have shortlisted this option) 
E can be rejected because struggle was not hampered by CCP. In fact CCP was in support of women rights under social reforms ( remember this line: subordinated the women's struggle to the class struggle). women struggle was part of another bigger struggle)

B or D
I eliminate B because policies were made after 1949 and this women struggle started after these policies were made. 
In another words, What changed before 1949 and after 1949? Struggle was there before also but at that time many women who took step outside society had to deal with other challenges such as economic etc. 
but after 1949 guidelines, now such emancipation has become part of the society forcefully. Due to this , women faced challenges at home and at work. This was kind of new struggle for women after 1949. 
And if we look why such struggle happened at 1st place?
because of policies. why such policies were act into place? because women struggle was part of class struggle. it means women struggle was part of much struggle ( class struggle) for liberation.

I hope it is clear and helpful.

Ranasaymon · Answer

VeritasKarishma   AndrewN   ChiranjeevSingh   Sajjad1994

How to answer such type of question? After using POE, I am stuck between C and D. D confuses me, as the last line of the last paragraph talks about reforms and resistance. I though that the new paragraph will start with showing reforms and resistance. Is my guess incorrect?

Which of the following statements would be most likely to begin the paragraph immediately following the passage?
 -> Q: What is the first line of new paragraph after the end of the passage.

(A) The subject of women's emancipation, which had germinated years before, surfaced in public debate in the period after 1919.
(B) The pessimistic view of the emancipation of women in the 1920's was dispelled when it was seen that emancipation could be achieved by working with a series of limited and specific goals.
(C) A vivid reflection of the changes that occurred in Chinese fiction is found in Lo Pin-chi's novel, Mother Wang (1953).
(D) In an interesting reversal of the problems produced by the generation gap, Ju Chihchiian's novel, Wish Fulfilled (1959), depicts a son's difficulty in adjusting to his mother's newly acquired job and independence.
(E) Recently written Chinese fiction, unlike earlier works, is didactic and not philosophical.

KarishmaB · Answer

Yes, method of elimination is the way to go. The next paragraph will present a subsequent thought. If could be a small step ahead from the last line or a leap. So you need to eliminate options that do not fit.

The passage is about female characters in Chinese fiction. We start with before early 20th century, then early 20th century, then late 1940s, then after 1949 (which has led to changes in women's life int he last 2 centuries).
So (C) and (D) are subsequent thoughts:

(C) A vivid reflection of the changes that occurred in Chinese fiction is found in Lo Pin-chi's novel, Mother Wang (1953).
This gives us an example of changes in fiction after 1949 i.e. in 1953. This could be the next logical discussion.

(D) In an interesting reversal of the problems produced by the generation gap, Ju Chihchiian's novel, Wish Fulfilled (1959), depicts a son's difficulty in adjusting to his mother's newly acquired job and independence. 
The issue here - generation gap. No where has generation gap been discussed. So what is "the generation gap" mentioned here? We don't know. Hence the link is broken.

Answer (C)

mSKR · Answer

Hi  VeritasKarishma

Can you give your reasoning for rejecting option E?
In what scenarios E could be correct?

My query :
 Should we always pay attention to subsequent thought ( like C and D) or can also consider some some summary or concluding sentences for such questions(Q7)?

Please suggest.

Thanks!

KarishmaB · Answer

Option (E) is not linked to the passage at all. The passage is about female characters in Chinese fiction over the decades. Whether that fiction is didactic or philosophical is not discussed at all. So this will not be a part of this passage. 
The start of a new paragraph will not be a summary. It will be the start of a subsequent thought. The last line of the passage could be the summary. Also, the last paragraph could summarise the passage. But when we talk about first line of the next paragraph, the intent is to look for the subsequent thought.

Ranasaymon · Answer

Thanks, I missed the chronology and a key detail, generation gap. . Moreover, looking for key details can be helpful to eliminate this type of question.

penco · Answer

Can anyone help how would they go by scratching notes for this long passage? 
I tried to write after each sentence and things just got messier.

shayan07 · Answer

question 8 explanation for the answer

A review of the treatment of female characters in Chinese fiction reve

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