In reaction to a rigid, overrefined classical curriculum, some

Question

In reaction to a rigid, overrefined classical curriculum, some educational philosophers have swung sharply to an espousal of “ life experience ” as the sole source of learning. Using their narrow interpretation of John Dewey’s theories for support and spouting such phrases as “Teach the child, not the subject,” they demand an end to rigorous study and insist that only through doing can learning take place. While not all adherents to this philosophy would totally eliminate the study of great books, the gradual subordination of literature in the school curriculum reflects their influence.

What is the purpose of literature? Why read if life alone is to be our teacher? James Joyce tells us that the artist reveals the human condition by re-creating life out of life; Aristotle, that art presents universal truths because its form is taken from nature. Thus, consciously or otherwise, great writers extend our understanding of ourselves and our world. We can soar with them to the heights of aspiration or plummet with them to the depths of despair. How much wider is the understanding we gain from reading than from viewing life through the keyhole of our individual experience.

This function of literature, the enlarging of our life sphere, is of major importance in itself. Additionally, however, literature suggests solutions to social problems. The overweening ambitions of political leaders—and their sneering contempt for the law—did not appear for the first time in the writings of Bernstein and Woodward. The problems and behavior of the guilt-ridden did not await the appearance of the bearded psychoanalysts of the nineteenth century.

Federal Judge Learned Hand wrote, “I venture to believe that it is as important to a judge called upon to pass on a question of constitutional law, to have at least a bowing acquaintance with Thucydides, Gibbon, and Carlyle, with Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and Milton, with Montaigne and Rabelais, with Plato, Bacon, Hume, and Kant, as with the books which have been specifically written on  the subject . For in such matters everything turns upon the spirit in which he approaches the questions before him.” How do we overcome our dissenter? We must start with the field of agreement: the belief that education should serve to improve the individual and society. We must persuade our dissenters that the voices of human experience stretch our human faculties and open us to learning. We must convince them of the unity of life and art. We must prove to them that far from being separate, literature is that part of life that illumines life.   1 
 1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) list the writers who make up the backbone of a great literature curriculum
(B) explain the function of literature
(C) advocate the adoption of a new philosophy of education
(D) plead for the retention of great literature as a fundamental part of the school curriculum
(E) overcome the opposition of Dewey’s followers to the inclusion of contemporary literature in the curriculum

2 
 2. It can be inferred from the passage that the author considers those who believe in “‘life experience’ as the sole source of learning” (line 3) to be

(A) practical
(B) progressive
(C) misguided
(D) inflexible
(E) ignorant

3 
 3. The passage supplies information to suggest that the author and the educational philosophers mentioned in the first paragraph would agree that

(A) learning is the key to adaptability in an ever-changing environment
(B) the traditional classroom should be transformed into a learning laboratory
(C) the purpose of education is to improve society as well as the individual
(D) one must know history in order to understand the present and the future
(E) the primary aim of education is the transmission of culture

4 
 4. It can be inferred from the passage that the author makes which of the following assumptions about his readers?

(A) They believe that schools should reflect society.
(B) They believe that the subject, not the child, should be taught.
(C) They favor a return to the classical curriculum.
(D) They share his view that the study of great books is essential to education.
(E) They believe that only through reading can learning take place.

5 
 5. Based on the information in the passage, with which of the following statements about education would John Dewey be most likely to agree?

A. Education should be a continuous reconstruction of living experience, with the child the center of concern.
B. Education is the imparting of knowledge, not the drawing out of what is already in the child.
C. Though rigid, the classical curriculum has served us well for centuries and should be restored.
D. The purpose of education is to correct the inequalities brought about by the rise of civilization.
E. Children should be taught only the skills and knowledge they need to get ahead.

6 
 6. The author implies that children who learn exclusively by doing are likely to

A. Be good problem solvers but poor judges
B. Be more guilt-ridden than those who learn both by doing and reading
C. Have below-average reading skills
D. Believe that art has nothing to do with life
E. Have a myopic view of themselves and the world

7 
 7. Which of the following best describes the organization of the third paragraph of the passage?

A. An idea is reiterated, a new idea is introduced, and two supporting examples are given.
B. The preceding paragraph is summarized and conclusions are drawn.
C. A new idea is introduced, the idea is qualified, and the implications of the idea are analyzed.
D. The main idea of the preceding paragraph is restated, and evidence is given to support it.
E. Two functions of literature are identified, and an example of each is given.

8 
 8. Which of the following could best be substituted for the words “the subject” ( Highlighted ) in the quotation from Judge Hand without altering the meaning of the quotation?

A. The question of constitutional law before the judge
B. The contempt of political leaders for the law
C. Social problems
D. The liberal arts, specifically history, literature, and philosophy
E. The human condition

methevoid · Answer

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) list the writers who make up the backbone of a great literature curriculum
(B) explain the function of literature
(C) advocate the adoption of a new philosophy of education
(D) plead for the retention of great literature as a fundamental part of the school curriculum
(E) overcome the opposition of Dewey’s followers to the inclusion of contemporary literature in the curriculum

I will refer to these lines for an answer to this question -

"While not all adherents to this philosophy would totally eliminate the study of great books, the gradual subordination of literature in the school curriculum reflects their influence."

This line states that NOT ALL adherents of this philosophy - "More Doing than learning" would discard the study of great books, thus implying that there are still some people amongst that group who believe that studying books do help.

Thus suggesting that these people are not inflexible, as not all of them share same rigid thoughts, but few of them do support learning by books.

Hence {C} is the answer.

methevoid · Answer

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) list the writers who make up the backbone of a great literature curriculum
(B) explain the function of literature
(C) advocate the adoption of a new philosophy of education
(D) plead for the retention of great literature as a fundamental part of the school curriculum
(E) overcome the opposition of Dewey’s followers to the inclusion of contemporary literature in the curriculum

To answer such question - IT is imperative to understand the Tone of the passage - in the first passage it suggests how some people detest Learning books but emphasize that doing things will make children learn better.

Then in second passage how the author puts together a great piece of convincing to suggest that by studying books we learn a lot not only about our own self, but also about life and various experiences.

Thus overall the Passage is trying in its requesting tone for those people {who do not believe much in learning by books} to understand why and how studying by books will make children know more of human tendencies and faculties thus enriching their experience.

(A) Author Lists various writers just as an example to qualify that what essential things one can learn from various authors - he does not mean to list writers of great literature curriculum.  Reject A. 
(B) Author is not explaining the function of Literature, instead he is elaborating the benefits children can have on learning by studying great authors.  Reject B. 
(C) Advocate the new philosophy of education - No where the passage describes learning from books as "NEW" philosophy -  Reject C. 
   (D) Yes that's the nearest AC you have out of all the 5 options available.    
(E) Overcome opposition of Dewey's followers - this may be the case for first passage but its not the Primary Purpose of the Passage.  Reject E.

Bombsante · Answer

Question 2:  
 
After reading following lines from Para 1 & observing the tone of author:
 
 "Using their narrow interpretation of John Dewey’s theories for support and spouting such phrases as “Teach the child, not the subject,” they demand an end to rigorous study and insist that only through doing can learning take place."
 
 We can safely say that Author does not consider those who believe in “‘life experience’ as the sole source of learning” to be practical, progressive & inflexible. Use of words "narrow interpretation" gives a hint that author believes that such people have limited knowledge about the subject in discussion. Only options C & E provide debatable choice. Misguided i.e. C would IMO be a better choice than Ignorant i.e. E since ignorant would mean not aware while misguided would mean aware but not to the T.
 
  Question 3:  
 
It is explicitly mentioned in last para in following lines:
 
 "How do we overcome our dissenter? We must start with the field of agreement: the belief that education should serve to improve the individual and society." The dissenter that the author is talking about is the philosopher. The author is explicitly saying that the philosopher and he himself agree on 1 thing i.e. the belief that education should serve to improve the individual and society.

sssanskaar · Answer

Sajjad1994  bhai, can you please share how to infer the correct answer in Qn#4? I failed in this one and am trying to understand how to extract the answer from the passage.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hi sssanskaar

Below are the lines from the passage that discuss the option  (D)  in question #4

"While not all adherents to this philosophy would totally eliminate the study of great books, the gradual subordination of literature in the school curriculum reflects their influence."

But i am also unable to infer the answer option  (D)  from the above lines, i request  MartyTargetTestPrep  to please provide his valuable comments.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Question 7:

The answer option  (A)  identifies the organization of the  third paragraph.  The paragraph begins by reiterating the function of literature from the previous paragraphs (the enlarging of our life sphere), introduces a new idea (literature suggesting solutions to social problems), and provides two supporting examples (the behavior of political leaders and guilt-ridden individuals).

On the other hand  (D)  is incorrect because the third paragraph does not focus on restating the main idea of the preceding paragraph. Instead, it introduces a new idea (literature suggesting solutions to social problems) and provides examples to support it. There is no explicit restatement of the main idea of the preceding paragraph.

AbhishekP220108 · Answer

Hi  venmic  can we have the official explanation for all the question of this passage

Bunuel · Answer

I doubt it: https://gmatclub.com/forum/download/file.php?id=88879 GMAT-Club-Forum-ztwvjtj2.png

SKP220292 · Answer

For anyone in 2026 with the same doubt, the best hint lies in the last paragraph. The author says "how do WE overcome our dissenters?" - and then goes on to recommend 4-5 things that WE should do to convince the educational philosophers that their POV is incorrect.

By we, he seems to be referring to himself and the readers, right? Therefore, he feels that he himself and his audience share the same beliefs on this topic and they need to convince the other party to change their opinion.

So - if you (1) understood that the author clearly considers classic literature valuable in educating a child and (2) that he is talking to fellow supporters of classic literature (using above mentioned language in the last para), then this question becomes easier to answer.

SKP220292 · Answer

egmat   Bunuel   GMATNinja  Can I please get some ideas on the last question? Why should it not be A?

guddo · Answer

8. Which of the following could best be substituted for the words “the subject” ( Highlighted ) in the quotation from Judge Hand without altering the meaning of the quotation?

The passage argues that literature is not separate from life; it deepens judgment and helps people understand human behavior. In Judge Hand’s quotation, he says a judge deciding a constitutional-law question should know literature, history, and philosophy as well as books written specifically on that legal issue.  So “the subject” refers to constitutional law , specifically the  question before the judge .

(A) The question of constitutional law before the judge

This is correct. The quotation says “a judge called upon to pass on a question of constitutional law,” and then refers to books written on “the subject.” So “the subject” means that constitutional-law question.

(B) The contempt of political leaders for the law

This is incorrect. That topic appears earlier in the passage, but it is not what Judge Hand is discussing in the quoted sentence.

(C) Social problems

This is too broad. The passage says literature can suggest solutions to social problems, but the quotation is specifically about judging constitutional-law questions.

(D) The liberal arts, specifically history, literature, and philosophy

This is incorrect. Those are the fields Judge Hand says a judge should know in addition to legal books. They are not “the subject” of those legal books.

(E) The human condition

This is too broad. Literature may reveal the human condition, but “the subject” in the quotation refers to the constitutional-law matter.

Answer: (A)

egmat · Answer

Hi SKP220292,

A is the correct answer.  Let me show you exactly why the words "the subject" point back to constitutional law, so it stops feeling shaky.

Start by reading the quote as a comparison of  two kinds of reading  a judge should do:

- the great books -  Homer, Dante, Plato, Kant,  and so on
- "the books which have been specifically  written on the subject "

Now ask: written on  what  subject? Look at how Judge Hand opens the sentence - "a judge called upon to pass on  a question of constitutional law ." That constitutional-law question is the matter in front of him. So "the books written on the subject" are the specialized legal texts about that very question.  Therefore ,  "the subject" = the question of constitutional law before the judge - choice A.

Why the tempting choices fail:

(D) the liberal arts / history, literature, philosophy  - this is the  other  category in the comparison (the great books). Hand is contrasting those with the books "on the subject," so "the subject" can't mean the great books themselves. This is the reversal trap.

(B) contempt of leaders, (C) social problems, (E) the human condition  - these come from earlier paragraphs, not from what the judge's specialized books are written about. Out of scope for this sentence.

A simple stand-in to lock it in:

"It's as important for a doctor treating  heart disease  to read poetry as the books written on  the subject ."

Read instinctively, "the subject" clearly means  heart disease  - the specific matter at hand, not the poetry. Map that straight back to Hand: the judge's "subject" is the constitutional-law question at hand. That's A.

Answer: A

SKP220292 · Answer

Apologies. I meant to select A only, I got careless and mistakenly chose C but thought I had chosen A. That's why I asked "why should it NOT be A". Stupid mistake on my part.

In reaction to a rigid, overrefined classical curriculum, some

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