Matthew Arnold, through his Culture and Anarchy (1869), placed the

Question

Matthew Arnold, through his  Culture and Anarchy  (1869), placed the word “culture” at the center of debates about the goals of intellectual life and humanistic society. Arnold’s definition of culture as “the pursuit of perfection by getting to know the best which has been thought and said” helped define the Western world’s liberal arts curriculum over the next century. Although three forms of dissent from his views have had considerable impact of their own, each one misunderstands Arnold.

The first protested Arnold’s designation of “anarchy” as culture’s enemy, viewing this dichotomy simply as a struggle between a privileged power structure and radical challenges to it. Yet, Arnold himself was plagued in his soul by the blind arrogance of the world’s reactionary powers. Another form of opposition saw Arnold’s culture as a perverse perpetuation of literary learning in a world where science had become the new arch from which any new order of thinking must develop. At the center of the “two cultures” debate were the goals of the formal educational curriculum, the principal vehicle through which Arnoldian culture operates. But Arnold himself had viewed culture as enacting its life in a much more broadly conceived set of institutions. Today, Arnoldian culture is sustained, if indirectly, by a third form of dissent, multiculturalism, which seeks to deflate the imperious authority that “high culture” exercises over curriculum while promoting the idea that we must learn what is representative because we have overemphasized what is exceptional. Yet, multiculturalism actually affirms Arnold by returning us to a tension inherent in the idea of culture. The social critics, defenders of science, and multiculturalists wrongly insist that Arnold’s culture is simply a device for ordering us about. Instead, it is designed to register the gathering of ideological clouds on the horizon. Perfection mattered to Arnold only as the background against which we could form a just image of our actual circumstances, just as we can conceive finer sunsets and unheard melodies.    1 
 1. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with

(A) arguing against those who have opposed Arnold’s ideas.
(B) describing Arnold’s conception of culture.
(C) explaining why Arnold considered the pursuit of perfection to be the essence of culture.
(D) tracing Arnold’s influence on the liberal arts educational curriculum.
(E) examining the different views of culture that have emerged since the mid-eighteenth century.

2 
 2. It can be inferred from the passage that the two-cultures debate

(A) emerged as a reaction to the multiculturalist movement.
(B) developed after 1869.
(C) influenced Arnold’s thinking about culture.
(D) was carried on by American as well as European scientists.
(E) led to two competing educational systems.

3 
 3. In criticizing Arnold’s dissenters, the author employs all of the following methods EXCEPT:

(A) Pointing out the paradoxical nature of an argument against Arnoldian culture
(B) Presenting evidence that conflicts with a claim made by Arnold’s dissenters
(C) Asserting that a claim made by the dissenters is an oversimplification
(D) Drawing an analogy between one of the dissenters’ claims and another insupportable theory
(E) Suggesting that the focus of one of the dissenters’ arguments is too narrow

4 
 4. It can be inferred from the information in the passage that Arnoldian culture is perpetuated today by

(A) the two-cultures debate.
(B) postmodernists.
(C) imperious elitists.
(D) existentialists.
(E) social critics.

RC Butler 2021  -  Practice Two RC Questions Everyday.   
Passage # 154 Date: 19-Apr-2021
 This question is a part of RC Butler 2021 .  Click here for Details

LaveenaPanchal · Accepted Answer

I found the passage very tough but I am trying to explain the answers:

Summary of passage:-
Para 1. The authors provides information about Arnolds theory or idea of culture and anarchy and three forms of dissents for his theory.
Para 2. Detailed information about the 3 forms of dissents and explanation against each of them.

1. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with

(A) arguing against those who have opposed Arnold’s ideas. -  Author does that throughout the passage. So it is the main idea of the passage. 
(B) describing Arnold’s conception of culture.  The major focus is on the 3 dissents and explanation against the dissents. 
(C) explaining why Arnold considered the pursuit of perfection to be the essence of culture.  No such explanation. The idea is just mentioned in the passage. 
(D) tracing Arnold’s influence on the liberal arts educational curriculum.  No information on tracing of influence. The education curriculum is mentioned as a goal of the culture. 
(E) examining the different views of culture that have emerged since the mid-eighteenth century.  The dissents of a single view of culture is discussed. No different views examined.

2. It can be inferred from the passage that the two-cultures debate

(A) emerged as a reaction to the multiculturalist movement. -  No such information in the passage. 
(B) developed after 1869.  It is obvious that two cultures debate which is an outcome of the dissents of the Arnold's Culture is developed after Arnold Culture and Anarchy idea which is developed in 1869. 
(C) influenced Arnold’s thinking about culture.  The passage does not mention anything that says Arnold is influenced by any of its dissents 
(D) was carried on by American as well as European scientists.  No mention of regions in the passage. 
(E) led to two competing educational systems.  No competing educational systems mentioned in the passage.

3. In criticizing Arnold’s dissenters, the author employs all of the following methods EXCEPT:

(A) Pointing out the paradoxical nature of an argument against Arnoldian culture.  Used by the author "Yet, multiculturalism actually affirms Arnold by returning us to a tension inherent in the idea of culture."  
(B) Presenting evidence that conflicts with a claim made by Arnold’s dissenters.  Used by the author "At the center of the “two cultures” debate were the goals of the formal educational curriculum, the principal vehicle through which Arnoldian culture operates." 
(C) Asserting that a claim made by the dissenters is an oversimplification.  Used by author "viewing this dichotomy simply as a struggle between a privileged power structure and radical challenges to it." 
(D) Drawing an analogy between one of the dissenters’ claims and another insupportable theory.  Method not employed 
(E) Suggesting that the focus of one of the dissenters’ arguments is too narrow.  Used by Author "But Arnold himself had viewed culture as enacting its life in a much more broadly conceived set of institutions"

4. It can be inferred from the information in the passage that Arnoldian culture is perpetuated today by

(A) the two-cultures debate.  No such information .
(B) postmodernists.  No mentioned about postmodernists 
(C) imperious elitists.  Today, Arnoldian culture is sustained, if indirectly, by a third form of dissent, multiculturalism, which seeks to deflate the imperious authority that “high culture”... The 3rd dissents project the idea of opposing the imperious authority which according to them Arnord culture encourages. 
(D) existentialists.  No information of existentialists  
(E) social critics.  Social critics just talk about anarchy.

Rohan30 · Answer

Could someone give an explanation for the OA choices ? Found this passage quite hard to comprehend.
My guess it's a 700+ level passage.

Posted from my mobile device

medha312 · Answer

Hi Experts, 
Could you please provide explanation to Q2?

Found this passage really hard to comprehend. I got the overall gist and so could do Q1 and Q3 but had no idea what to with the 'Detail/inference-oriented questions (Q2/Q4)'? Could you please suggest an approach for such passages (so as to handle questions within time)?

Thanks again!

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

2. It can be inferred from the passage that the two-cultures debate

Difficulty Level:   700

Explanation

Arnold’s  Culture and Anarchy  was published in 1869. The three forms of opposition to Arnold’s ideas as presented in this work, therefore, must have emerged later than 1869.

The correct answer is (B).

hrithiksindwani · Answer

Extremely tough one. Not sure if I even grasp the meaning properly. Would be great if someone can dissect the pasage for easier understanding.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Summary of the passage:

The passage discusses Matthew Arnold's concept of culture as  "the pursuit of perfection by getting to know the best which has been thought and said"  and its impact on the Western world's liberal arts curriculum. The author notes that three forms of dissent have arisen against Arnold's views: the first viewing culture's enemy as  "anarchy,"  the second seeing culture as a perpetuation of literary learning in a world where science has become dominant, and the third being multiculturalism, which seeks to deflate the imperious authority of  "high culture."  However, the author argues that each form of opposition misunderstands Arnold's view, which is meant to help us form a just image of our actual circumstances, with perfection serving as a background against which we can conceive of finer things.

Matthew Arnold, through his Culture and Anarchy (1869), placed the

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

Matthew Arnold, through his Culture and Anarchy (1869), placed the

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