In spite of a shared language, Latin American
poetry written in Spanish differs from Spanish poetry
in many respects. The Spanish of Latin American poets
is more open than that of Spanish poets, more exposed
(5) to outside influences—indigenous, English, French,
and other languages. While some literary critics
maintain that there is as much linguistic unity in Latin
American poetry as there is in Spanish poetry, they
base this claim on the fact that Castilian Spanish, the
(10) official and literary version of the Spanish language
based largely on the dialect originally spoken in the
Castile region of Spain, was transplanted to the
Americas when it was already a relatively standardized
idiom. Although such unity may have characterized the
(15) earliest Latin American poetry, after centuries in the
Americas the language of Latin American poetry
cannot help but reveal the influences of its unique
cultural history.
Latin American poetry is critical or irreverent in its
(20) attitude toward language, where that of Spanish poets
is more accepting. For example, the Spanish-language
incarnations of modernism and the avant-garde, two
literary movements that used language in innovative
and challenging ways, originated with Latin American
(25) poets. By contrast, when these movements later
reached Spain, Spanish poets greeted them with
reluctance. Spanish poets, even those of the modern
era, seem to take their language for granted, rarely
using it in radical or experimental ways.
(30) The most distinctive note in Latin American poetry
is its enthusiastic response to the modern world, while
Spanish poetry displays a kind of cultural
conservatism—the desire to return to an ideal culture
of the distant past. Because no Spanish-language
(35) culture lies in the equally distant (i.e., pre-Columbian)
past of the Americas, but has instead been invented by
Latin Americans day by day, Latin American poetry
has no such long-standing past to romanticize. Instead,
Latin American poetry often displays a curiosity about
(40) the literature of other cultures, an interest in exploring
poetic structures beyond those typical of Spanish
poetry. For example, the first Spanish-language
haiku—a Japanese poetic form—were written by José
Juan Tablada, a Mexican. Another of the Latin
(45) American poets’ responses to this absence is the search
for a world before recorded history—not only that of
Spain or the Americas, but in some cases of the planet;
the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda’s work, for example, is
noteworthy for its development of an ahistorical
(50) mythology for the creation of the earth. For Latin
American poets there is no such thing as the pristine
cultural past affirmed in the poetry of Spain: there is
only the fluid interaction of all world cultures, or else
the extensive time before cultures began.
1. The discussion in the second paragraph is intended primarily to(A) argue that Latin American poets originated modernism and the avant-garde
(B) explain how Spanish poetry and Latin American poetry differ in their attitudes toward the Spanish language
(C) demonstrate why Latin American poetry is not well received in Spain
(D) show that the Castilian Spanish employed in Spanish poetry has remained relatively unchanged by the advent of modernism and the avant-garde
(E) illustrate the extent to which Spanish poetry romanticizes Spanish-language culture
2. Given the information in the passage, which one of the following is most analogous to the evolution of Latin American poetry?(A) A family moves its restaurant to a new town and incorporates local ingredients into its traditional recipes.
(B) A family moves its business to a new town after the business fails in its original location.
(C) A family with a two-hundred-year-old house labors industriously in order to restore the house to its original appearance.
(D) A family does research into its ancestry in order to construct its family tree.
(E) A family eagerly anticipates its annual vacation but never takes photographs or purchases souvenirs to preserve its memories.
3. The passage’s claims about Spanish poetry would be most weakened if new evidence indicating which one of the following were discovered?(A) Spanish linguistic constructs had greater influence on Latin American poets than had previously been thought.
(B) Castilian Spanish was still evolving linguistically at the time of the inception of Latin American poetry.
(C) Spanish poets originated an influential literary movement that used language in radical ways.
(D) Castilian Spanish was influenced during its evolution by other Spanish dialects.
(E) Spanish poets rejected the English and French incarnations of modernism.
4. The passage affirms each of the following EXCEPT:(A) The first haiku in the Spanish language were written by a Latin American poet.
(B) Spanish poetry is rarely innovative or experimental in its use of language.
(C) Spanish poetry rarely incorporates poetic traditions from other cultures.
(D) Latin American poetry tends to take the Spanish language for granted.
(E) Latin American poetry incorporates aspects of various other languages.
5. Which one of the following can most reasonably be inferred from the passage about Latin American poetry’s use of poetic structures from other world cultures?(A) The use of poetic structures from other world cultures is an attempt by Latin American poets to create a cultural past.
(B) The use of poetic structures from other world cultures by Latin American poets is a response to their lack of a long-standing Spanish-language cultural past in the Americas.
(C) The use of poetic structures from other world cultures has led Latin American poets to reconsider their lack of a long-standing Spanish-language cultural past in the Americas.
(D) Latin American poets who write about a world before recorded history do not use poetic structures from other world cultures.
(E) Latin American poetry does not borrow poetic structures from other world cultures whose literature exhibits cultural conservatism.
6. Based on the passage, the author most likely holds which one of the following views toward Spanish poetry’s relationship to the Spanish cultural past?(A) This relationship has inspired Spanish poets to examine their cultural past with a critical eye.
(B) This relationship forces Spanish poets to write about subjects with which they feel little natural affinity.
(C) This relationship is itself the central theme of much Spanish poetry.
(D) This relationship infuses Spanish poetry with a romanticism that is reluctant to embrace the modern era.
(E) This relationship results in poems that are of little interest to contemporary Spanish readers.
7. Which one of the following inferences is most supported by the passage?(A) A tradition of cultural conservatism has allowed the Spanish language to evolve into a stable, reliable form of expression.
(B) It was only recently that Latin American poetry began to incorporate elements of other languages.
(C) The cultural conservatism of Spanish poetry is exemplified by the uncritical attitude of Spanish poets toward the Spanish language.
(D) Latin American poets’ interest in other world cultures is illustrated by their use of Japanese words and phrases.
(E) Spanish poetry is receptive to the influence of some Spanish-language poets outside of Spain.