"I want to criticize the social system, and to show it at work, at its

The passage says

Which means that is the reader makes the observations, so is contemplative and not aggressive.

Always try to figure out the contexts in which the question is asking: maybe you can find the answer slightly before where is the real gist of the question or just a bit after.

Ask if something is unclear to you

[quote="carcass"]Guys on the GMAT usually Short passages have 3 questions and the longer 4. This is a GRE passage that I love for two main reasons

• They are really dense and well written. They are official source so you can bet on them. Moreover, they help you to train at its finest for the test.
• They are even more convoluted than GMAT passages because of GRE stress a lot on the verbal side of the test, meanwhile GMAT more on quant

I would say from 2 to 4 minutes for the longest passages to read head down, and from 30 seconds to 90 seconds to answer each question you face oof.

So, make the count. 8 minutes at most on average

Ask if you need further assistance.

carcass -Are you sure that GRE stresses more on verbal side than on Quant side? I have studied for GRE and know how it works. SO i could not disagree with you more on your remark. GMAT my friend is focused on verbal whereas GRE is mostly math and in that mostly geometry.

When we say that a test relies more on one side rather than another we should take it with a grain of salt.

That said, I scanned all the questions you can find at this link https://greprepclub.com/forum/powerprep ... -3118.html

And the most difficult math question ranging from 680 to 720 relative to that of GMAT.

On the other hand, a verbal question like this is really difficult if you do not grasp the real essence of the meaning https://greprepclub.com/forum/the-journ ... -3344.html

On the contrary, even the most difficult SC could be solved with some trick or touch of grammar without fully have the meaning at its core https://gmatclub.com/forum/in-holland-a ... 44373.html

Then everybody has his/her feeling/opinion.

Regards

can somebody explain the answer choice selection for question 7:

The passage supplies information for answering which of the following questions?

(A) Have literary critics ignored the social criticism inherent in the works of Chekhov and Chaucer?
(B) Does the author believe that Woolf is solely an introspective and visionary novelist?
(C) What are the social causes with which Woolf shows herself to be sympathetic in her writings?
(D) \Vas D. H. Lawrence as concerned as Woolf was with creating realistic settings for his novels?
(E) Does Woolf attribute more power to social environment or to historical forces as shapers of a person's life?

passage Map:
P1: Author favors VW over her critics for writing realistically in her novels.
P2: why her writings are not recognized and her view on reformers in her novels
P3: How she phrases her social criticism and why she likes writings of Chaucer.

carcass can you please confirm if the map is correct. I am struggling with RCs as I got 1 right and 6 wrong after spending 15 minutes on the passage.

Also can you provide the OE's?

Guys can you explain Q4 to Q7

Posted from my mobile device

I have faced the same issue. This passage is really hard to understand. Can someone please provide a summary of how you understood the passage? Literature is such a challenging topic for me.

When the author said this: "But Virginia Woolf was a realistic as well as a poetic novelist, a satirist and social critic as well as a visionary: literary critics' cavalier dismissal of Woolf's social vision will not withstand scrutiny." Did s/he mean to emphasize that Woolf is the realistic novelist? Are there differences between poetic vs realistic novelist in general term? This is plainly English question for me. Hope someone can help

Hi

I got all the questions correct except the last. I can try to explain

4. It can be inferred from the passage that the most probable reason Woolf realistically described the social setting in the majority of her novels was that she

This is a direct question:

The reference is from Paragraph 1 - "In her novels, Woolf is deeply engaged by the questions of how individuals are shaped (or de-formed) by their social environments, how historical forces impinge on people's lives, how class, wealth, and gender help to determine people's fates. Most of her novels are rooted in a realistically rendered social setting and in a precise historical time."

(A) was aware that contemporary literary critics considered the novel to be the most realistic of literary genres >> The influence of critics on Wolf's writings is no where mentioned in the passage.
(B) was interested in the effect of a person's social milieu on his or her character and actions >> Correct - In line with the reference
(C) needed to be as attentive to detail as possible in her novels in order to support the arguments she advanced in them >> Not mentioned anywhere in the passage
(D) wanted to show that a painstaking fidelity in the representation of reality did not in any way hamper the artist >> Out of scope
(E) wished to prevent critics from charging that her novels were written in an ambiguous and inexact style >> The intention of showing social setting is not to prevent critics from charging anything.



5. Which of the following phrases best expresses the sense of the word "contemplative" as it is used in lines 43-44 of the passage?

The reference is from Last paragraph: Woolf's own social criticism is expressed in the language of observation rather than in direct commentary since for her, fiction is a contemplative, not an active art. She describes phenomena and provides materials for a judgment about society and social issues: it is the reader's work to put the observations together and understand the coherent point of view behind them. As a moralist, Woolf works by indirection, subtly undermining officially accepted mores, mocking, suggesting, calling into question, rather than asserting, advocating, bearing witness: hen is the satirist's art.

(A) Gradually elucidating the rational structures underlying accepted more > Wolf goes opposite to the accepted mores. So she never actually explains the structures of the accepted more - Opposite
(B) Reflecting on issues in society without prejudice or emotional commitment >> This is Opposite again. She expresses accepted more in a an undermining tone - so She is subjective & emotional.
(C) Avoiding the aggressive assertion of the author's perspective to the exclusion of the reader's judgment >> Correct - As the passage says wolf provides the material to frame perspectives.
(D) Conveying a broad view of society as a whole rather than focusing on an isolated individual consciousness >> Not mentioned
(E) Appreciating the world as the artist sees it rather than judging it in moral terms >> She did undermine the accepted more.

6. The author implies that a major element of the satirist's art is the satirist's

The reference is same as for Q5.

(A) consistent adherence to a position of lofty disdain when viewing the foibles of humanity >> Undermining <> consistent disdain
(B) insistence on the helplessness of individuals against the social forces that seek to determine an individual's fate <> Extreme & out of context - The passage merely said that the society influences people but this answer choice goes on to say that the people are helpless.
(C) cynical disbelief that visionaries can either enlighten or improve their societies >> Out of Context
(D) fundamental assumption that some ambiguity must remain in a work of art in order for it to reflect society and social mores accurately >> Out of context
(E) refusal to indulge in polemic when present-ing social mores to readers for their scrutiny > Correct

Hope this helps.

Thanks
Harsh

Spent 14 mins, got Q1-Q5 right , Q6 & Q7 wrong.

1. Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for the passage?

For title, you always chose the answer that covers the entire passage, the entire passage talks about VW & her approach in her writings, how that was revolving around society as a whole, thus option E.

2. In the first paragraph of the passage, the author's attitude toward the literary critics mentioned can best be described as

iterary critics' cavalier dismissal of Woolf's social vision will not withstand scrutiny.[\b] In P1 author mentions this which means that he is trying to disregard the literary critic's criticism of Woolf, therefore [b]disparaging[\b]

[b]3. It can be inferred from the passage that Woolf chose Chaucer as a literary model because she believed that

The last para clearly mentions that -
"It is safe to say that not a single law has been framed or one stone set upon another because of anything Chaucer said or wrote; and yet, as we read him, we are absorbing morality at every pore." [\b]
Chaucer's writings were making the readers to look at the moral angles therefore (D)


[b]4. It can be inferred from the passage that the most probable reason Woolf realistically described the social setting in the majority of her novels was that she

she was more focused on looking at the affects of social environment on people's life, as mentioned in the P1 as well -
"Most of her novels are rooted in a realistically rendered social setting and in a precise historical time.[\b]

[b]5. Which of the following phrases best expresses the sense of the word "contemplative" as it is used in lines 43-44 of the passage?
This was pretty straight forward, the word contemplative itself means weighing-out-different-alternatives or looking for different answers, this is exactly what this word id doing here, asking readers to not just read and believe what is written but be contemplative about it.
Woolf just shares observations - [b]"it is the reader's work to put the observations together and understand the coherent point of view behind them"[\b]

Q6 & Q7 I got wrong but after a second look I could see why the OA is right.

Too much to write here, if there is any clarification in the above answers please comment.
Hope this helps.

bm2201

Could you please add explanation for Q7?

I chose the answer E

Read the lines from the passage:

"Virginia Woolf's provocative statement about her intentions in writing Mrs. Dalloway has regularly been ignored by the critics since it highlights an aspect of her literary interests very different from the traditional picture of the "poetic" novelist concerned with examining states of reverie and vision and with following the intricate pathways of individual consciousness."

"But Virginia Woolf was a realistic as well as a poetic novelist, a satirist and social critic as well as a visionary: literary critics' cavalier dismissal of Woolf's social vision will not withstand scrutiny."

B is correct according to para 1. There is no comparison made in paragraph 1 that is why E is wrong.

Answer: A

Great explanations, can you please explain Q6?

carcass Sajjad1994 in question 7, option B says "solely...". isnt that very limited in scope to what the passages says?

But Virginia Woolf was a realistic as well as a poetic novelist, a satirist and social critic as well as a visionary: literary critics' cavalier dismissal of Woolf's social vision will not withstand scrutiny.

How should introspection be interpreted in the question?

The question is

Is Woolf ONLY a novelist? or is she something else that we did not recognize before ?

"I want to criticize the social system, and to show it at work, at its most intense." Virginia Woolf's provocative statement about her intentions in writing Mrs. Dalloway has regularly been ignored by the critics since it highlights an aspect of her literary interests very different from the traditional picture of the "poetic" novelist concerned with examining states of reverie and vision and with following the intricate pathways of individual consciousness.

The bold portion means she has NOT only an interest to discern the intricate pathways of individual consciousness


But Virginia Woolf was a realistic as well as poetic novelist, a satirist, and social critic as well as a visionary:

literary critics' cavalier dismissal of Woolf's social vision will not withstand scrutiny. In her novels,

1) Woolf is deeply engaged by the questions of how individuals are shaped (or de-formed) by their social environments,
2) how historical forces impinge on people's lives, how class, wealth,
3) and gender help to determine people's fates.

She was interested in 3 things and NOT just in novel

Most of her novels are rooted in a realistically rendered social setting and in a precise historical time.


She had a deep understanding I would say, prosaically, of what was going on at the time. She WAS NOT ONLY a simple novelist

I hope this helps