Labeling Zora Neale Hurston "a writer of the Harlem Renaissance"

Q1 : E

A : Out of scope
B : Out of scope
C : No one is disputing anything about her
D : no one is acknowledging any conflicts
E : Correct

Q2 : E

"There has been a widespread tendency to regard the Harlem Renaissance as a monolithic cultural movement, capable of reduction to one orthodoxy or another or to a set of characteristic principles. This presumption reflects the bias in most American scholarship that postulates Black people as a united entity and then poses theories ignoring individuation of thought and feeling."

Q3 : D

"generalizations about the Harlem Renaissance and its writers are either too hard or too easy. They have come easily enough to a whole generation of critics, but their pithy summaries seldom reflect the wide divisions between Blacks and Whites, the Black intelligentsia and Black workers, Black writers and their middle- class audience, that marked the era"

Q4 : D

"Between 1919 and 1930, Black writers were published in greater numbers than in any single decade in American life prior to the 1960's." - 2nd para bottom part

Q5 : D

"Hughes's words should not imply that she was solely an entertainer. Although she was independent and scornful of literary movements, she shared in the historical and cultural forces that made the Harlem Renaissance an identifiable moment in American intellectual history"

Q6: B

"She spends exactly two paragraphs on the Renaissance in her autobiography, and her other writing, public and private, offers a very little discussion of what the Harlem Renaissance meant to her"

Q7: C

"As Langston Hughes put it in The Big Sea, she "was certainly the most amusing" of the Harlem Renaissance artists, "full of side-splitting anecdotes, humorous tales, and tragicomic stories.""

Q8 : A

"generalizations about the Harlem Renaissance and its writers are either too hard or too easy. They have come easily enough to a whole generation of critics, but their pithy summaries seldom reflect the wide divisions between Blacks and Whites, the Black intelligentsia and Black workers, Black writers and their middle- class audience, "

Q9 : A

A : Correct
B : "Black writers has continued to increase annually since 1919" no data to prove this
C : False
D: Out of scope
E : Out of scope

Hi

Why is C not the correct answer choice.

lines 45-50 state the following and the last line clearly states that Hughes words should not mislead people into believing that zora was soley an entertainer.

" As
Langston Hughes put it in The Big Sea, she "was
certainly the most amusing" of the Harlem Renais-
sance artists, "full of side-splitting anecdotes,
humorous tales, and tragicomic stories." Hughes's
words should not imply that she was solely an
entertainer.

GMATNinja SajjadAhmad VeritasKarishma
Why is C not the correct answer choice.

lines 45-50 state the following and the last line clearly states that Hughes words should not mislead people into believing that zora was soley an entertainer.

" As
Langston Hughes put it in The Big Sea, she "was
certainly the most amusing" of the Harlem Renais-
sance artists, "full of side-splitting anecdotes,
humorous tales, and tragicomic stories." Hughes's
words should not imply that she was solely an
entertainer.

Debashis Roy Ashokshiva
" Hughes's
words should not imply that she was solely an
entertainer." : what dos this mean ??? the author says that Hughes portrays ZL as an enyertainer ... BUT SHE is not ONLY an entertainer but something else too... This is what author says, Author does not discredit or dispute the claim that ZL was an entertainer , author rather says that she was NOT ONLY na entertainer BUT ALSO something else...

option C C) Langston Hughes created an unintentionally misleading portrait of Zora Neale Hurston in The Big Sea.

now was the claim by Hughes about ZOra "misleading" ...that is what is it somehwat wrong??? Author says that there is much more to ZORA... Hughes never says that zora was ONLY an entertainer..he just says that she was an entertainer...but author clarifies for the readers to not take zora as just an entertainer !!! so the claim by Hughes is not misleading/incorrect , rather the claim does not encompass all of her prersonality...no one is misleaded by knwoing that zora is an entertainer...zora actually IS an entertainer...but there is more to it which is not explcitly mentioned !!!

so info provided by Huges is definitley LIMITED but NOT MISLEADING...his claim is true ...but there are additional truths too....

AdityaHongunti
Thanks for explaining whats wrong with C..But how is A the answer...
Could you please help ..
Thanks

Check the lines below and you will get the answer.

Can someone help with Q9? I marked C. I fail to understand how is A better. I am sure to not mark the correct answer if i see this on my exam
GMATNinja VeritasKarishma AdityaHongunti

VeritasKarishma, thanks for the answer.

But can it not mean that the writers had audience ranging from working class to middle class BUT the wide division was only between the writer and thier middle class audience. Meaning to say that the wirters and working class had no division but the working class were still an audience to Blacks writing

For (C) I felt the line Hughes's words should not imply that she was solely an entertainer. coneys the idea of creating an unintentionally misleading portrait of Zora Neale Hurston. Though not intentionally she created a misleading portrait, it can lead someone to be misled

Honest feeling and question.

May I face such type of passage if I want Verbal 40?

New RC from 1988 Official Guide

I still do not understand how E can be the answer to the first question. Less than half the passage talks about Zora Neale Hurston. How can placing her in some context be the passage's primary purpose? Some help please.

The reason the passage discusses the Harlem Renaissance in the first place is to provide context to the first sentence: “Labeling Zora Neale Hurston "a writer of the Harlem Renaissance" is a characterization that may, at first glance, obscure, rather than clarify, the particularities of her career.”

The passage goes into the Harlem Renaissance in detail, but this period is not the main purpose of the passage – the main purpose is about Hurston. The second paragraph suggests that even though the Harlem Renaissance only took up two paragraphs in her autobiography, she played a significant role in altering black life in America.

1. The reason the passage discusses the Harlem Renaissance in the first place is to provide context to the first sentence: “Labeling Zora Neale Hurston "a writer of the Harlem Renaissance" is a characterization that may, at first glance, obscure, rather than clarify, the particularities of her career.”

The passage goes into the Harlem Renaissance in detail, but this period is not the main purpose of the passage – the main purpose is about Hurston. The second paragraph suggests that even though the Harlem Renaissance only took up two paragraphs in her autobiography, she played a significant role in altering black life in America.

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2. We’re told the Harlem Renaissance was a spirit more than a movement; as a result, generalizations about this period and its writers are either too hard or too easy. If the reverse was true (a movement but not of a spirit), we can infer the that generalizations would be more in the middle. E matches this best – an explicit ideology.

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3. The author suggests that which of the following is an overlooked yet significant aspect of the Harlem Renaissance?

(A) The similarity of the works produced by Black writers during the Harlem Renaissance
(B) The perceptions of the central figures of the Harlem Renaissance as recorded in autobi- ographies and letters
(C) The interdisciplinary nature of Hurston's work
(D) The nature of the relationship between Black artists and their audiences
(E) The effect of Roosevelt's policies on artists and writers

D is the answer. In the first paragraph we’re told that “they have come easily enough to a whole generation of critics, but their pithy summaries seldom reflect the wide division between Blacks and Whites, the Black intelligentsia and Black workers, Black writers and their middle-class audience, that marked the era.”

_________________________________

4. Which of the following facts, mentioned in the passage, supports the author's statement that the Harlem Renaissance was "an identifiable moment in American intellectual history" in the highlighted text?

(A) During this period, scholars who had previously been unaware of Black literary tradition began to assess that tradition.
(B) Widespread social reform took place during this period.
(C) During this period, Black people acted upon common concerns for the first time in the twentieth century.
(D) The number of published works by Black writers increased dramatically during this period.
(E) The armistice ending the First World War began a period of increased prosperity for Americans.

D is the answer. In the second paragraph we’re told “Between 1919 and 1930, Black writers were published in greater numbers than in any single decade in American life prior to the 1960's”

_________________________________

5. According to the passage, Hurston's attitude toward literary movements in general was

(A) bemused
(B) ambivalent
(C) indifferent
(D) disdainful
(E) belligerent

D is the answer. In the second paragraph we’re told “she was independent and scornful of literary movements, she shared in the historical and cultural forces that made the Harlem Renaissance an identifiable moment in American intellectual history.” We can conclude that she was not particularly a fan of literary movements.

_________________________________

6. The author implies that Hurston's account of her role in the Harlem Renaissance is

(A) embellished
(B) unenlightening
(C) comic
(D) sardonic
(E) sentimental

The answer is B. Hurston’s account of her role in the Harlem Renaissance was not embellished – she was independent and scornful of literary movements. Embellished means to make more attractive by the addition of decorative details or features. Unenlightened is the best word to describe Hurston’s own account of her role – she writes only two paragraphs in her autobiography about this period of time.

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7. It can be inferred from the passage that accounts of Hurston given by her contemporaries emphasized which of the following?

(A) Her work as an anthropologist
(B) Her independence from political movements
(C) Her humor
(D) Her friendliness
(E) Her contributions to aesthetic theory

C is the answer. In the second paragraph we’re told "was certainly the most amusing" of the Harlem Renaissance artists, "full of side-splitting anecdotes, humorous tales, and tragicomic stories."

_________________________________

8. On which of the following grounds does the author dismiss previous critical work on the Harlem Renaissance?

(A) It is based on a faulty assumption about the homogeneity of Black experience.
(B) It has failed to acknowledge the work of the most talented writers of the Harlem Renaissance.
(C) It has failed to explain the consequences of the Harlem Renaissance for Black life.
(D) It has taken a sociological and historical approach rather than an aesthetic one.
(E) It has concentrated on the personalities of the writers of the Harlem Renaissance rather than on their work.

A is the answer. In the beginning of the passage we’re told that generalizations did not paint a complete picture of what occurred during the Harlem Renaissance.

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9. Which of the following statements is best supported by information in the passage?

(A) Black workers were not the primary audience for works produced by Black writers during the Harlem Renaissance.
(B) The number of works produced by Black writers has continued to increase annually since 1919.
(C) Langston Hughes created an unintentionally misleading portrait of Zora Neale Hurston in The Big Sea.
(D) Zora Neale Hurston is better known for her anthropological work than for her literary work.
(E) There was almost no market for works produced by Black writers during the Harlem Renaissance.

The answer is A. The Harlem Renaissance gave black writers a voice to the African American identity, as well as a strive for acceptance.[/b][/b]

4/9 correct, very demoralising but let's see how I do the next time.

For question 9:



C) is wrong because nowhere in the passage is it said that Hughes created a misleading portrait. Instead, the author says: "Hughes's words should not imply that she was solely an entertainer", which means that his words should NOT be mistaken to imply that Zora Hurston was solely an entertainer.

This is a high-level passage, this should not be handled before completing all the official sub-600 and 600 level passages. Even after doing so, I find it hard to handle this passage.

Nikhil, Sajjad1994.. can you please fix the Line numbering and spacing of the passage?

Decrease zoom level to 90% or possibly 80% of your chrome. It will be all right.