When Ralph Waldo Emerson pronounced America’s declaration of cultural

Question

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Passage # 128, Date: 03-Jun-2020
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When Ralph Waldo Emerson pronounced America’s declaration of cultural independence from Europe in his “American Scholar” address, he was actually articulating the transcendental assumptions of Jefferson’s political independence. In the ideal new world envisioned by Emerson, America’s becoming a perfect democracy of free and self-reliant individuals was within reach. Bringing Emerson’s metaphysics down to earth, Henry David Thoreau’s Walden (1854) asserted that one can live without encumbrances. Emerson wanted to visualize Thoreau as the ideal scholar in action that he had called for in the “American Scholar.”

In the end, however, Emerson regretted Thoreau’s too-private individualism, which failed to signal the vibrant revolution in national consciousness that Emerson had prophesied. For Emerson, what Thoreau lacked, Walt Whitman embodied in full. On reading Leaves of Grass (1855), Emerson saw in Whitman the “prophet of democracy” whom he had sought. Other American Renaissance writers were less optimistic than Emerson and Whitman about the fulfillment of the democratic ideal.

In The Scarlet Letter (1850), Nathaniel Hawthorne concluded that antinomianism such as the “heroics” displayed by Hester Prynne leads to moral anarchy; and Herman Melville, who saw in his story of Pierre (1852) a metaphor for the misguided assumptions of democratic idealism, declared the transcendentalist dream unrealizable. Ironically, the literary vigor with which both Hawthorne and Melville explored the ideal showed their deep sympathy with it even as they dramatized its delusions.    1  
 C 
 1. The author of the passage seeks primarily to

(A) explore the impact of the American Renaissance writers on the literature of the late 18th Century.
(B) illustrate how American literature of the mid-18th century differed in form from European literature of the same time period.
(C) identify two schools of thought among American Renaissance writers regarding the democratic ideal.
(D) point out how Emerson’s democratic idealism was mirrored by the works of the American Renaissance writers.
(E) explain why the writers of the American Renaissance believed that an ideal world was forming in America.

2  
 E 
 2. Based on the passage’s information, it can be inferred that Emerson might be characterized as any of the following EXCEPT

(A) a transcendentalist.
(B) an American Renaissance writer.
(C) a public speaker.
(D) a would-be prophet.
(E) a political pragmatist.

3  
 D 
 3. With which of the following statements about Melville and Hawthorne would the author most likely agree?

(A) Both men were disillusioned transcendentalists.
(B) Hawthorne sympathized with the transcendental dream more so than Melville.
(C) They agreed as to what the transcendentalist dream would ultimately lead to.
(D) Both men believed the idealists to be misguided.
(E) Hawthorne politicized the transcendental ideal, whereas Melville personalized it.

Source:  Master GMAT

CrackverbalGMAT · Accepted Answer

1. The author of the passage seeks primarily to

The passage talks largely about Emerson's "transcendental ideal" ie; a spiritually (philosophically) ideal scenario of democracy in the US made up of "free and self-reliant individuals". Subsequently, the passage talks about a couple of authors (Thoreau, Whitman) who appeared to agree with this philosophy to varying degrees, and other authors (Hawthorne, Melville) who did not believe this to be achievable. The passage concludes by stating that even the pessimistic authors sympathized with this ideology.

(A) explore the impact of the American Renaissance writers on the literature of the late 18th Century.  The passage does not address literature as a whole, but only those works dealing with a specific topic. Eliminate.

(B) illustrate how American literature of the mid-18th century differed in form from European literature of the same time period.  The passage does not talk about European literature. Eliminate.

(C) identify two schools of thought among American Renaissance writers regarding the democratic ideal.  Correct. Consistent with above.

(D) point out how Emerson’s democratic idealism was mirrored by the works of the American Renaissance writers.  The passage also talks in detail about those writers who did not mirror Emerson's ideas. Eliminate.

(E) explain why the writers of the American Renaissance believed that an ideal world was forming in America.  The passage also talks in detail about those writers who did not believe this. Eliminate.

2. Based on the passage’s information, it can be inferred that Emerson might be characterized as any of the following EXCEPT

(A) a transcendentalist.  He espoused the transcendental implications of America's political independence (first sentence). Eliminate.

(B) an American Renaissance writer.  He wrote "American Scholar". Eliminate.

(C) a public speaker.  The passage states: "Emerson  pronounced  America’s declaration of cultural independence...". He was, in all probability, a public speaker. Eliminate.

(D) a would-be prophet.  The passage states: "In the ideal new world envisioned by Emerson, America’s becoming a perfect democracy of free and self-reliant individuals was within reach." Emerson is seen here making forward looking predictions, or what can be characterized as a "prophecy". Eliminate.

(E) a political pragmatist.  Correct. The passage makes clear that Emerson believed in an "ideal" scenario, thereby making it hard to characterize him as a "pragmatist"

3. With which of the following statements about Melville and Hawthorne would the author most likely agree?

Both Melville and Hawthorne did not believe that the "ideal democracy" as envisaged by Emerson was close at hand or achievable. But both of them sympathized, or supported/agreed, with the concept as such.

(A) Both men were disillusioned transcendentalists.  We don't know if they were ever transcendentalists. Eliminate.

(B) Hawthorne sympathized with the transcendental dream more so than Melville.  We cannot say for sure whether one sympathized more than the other. Eliminate.

(C) They agreed as to what the transcendentalist dream would ultimately lead to.  Hawthorne thought it would lead to "moral anarchy" whereas Melville thought it "unrealizable". These are different results. Eliminate.

(D) Both men believed the idealists to be misguided.  Correct. Both believed that democratic idealism is not an objective worth pursuing.

(E) Hawthorne politicized the transcendental ideal, whereas Melville personalized it.  The passage makes no such claim. Eliminate.

Hope this helps.

AA01 · Answer

I could not eliminate C and E in the 2nd question. Could you help me with a solution?

Iceman2020 · Answer

Got all 3 right, but took me ~7 mins

to answer all the questions. Mind Map: RWE and his vision of America becoming a perfect democracy. RWE considered HDT as an ideal scholar, but later regretted it and found WW to be better. Other school of thought Renaissance writers NH & HP introduced along with their ideologies. 1. The author of the passage seeks primarily to (A) explore the impact of the American Renaissance writers on the literature of the late 18th Century. Impact on literature is completely OOS (B) illustrate how American literature of the mid-18th century differed in form from European literature of the same time period. These two are never compared (C) identify two schools of thought among American Renaissance writers regarding the democratic ideal. Correct. Can be confirmed using the mind map (D) point out how Emerson’s democratic idealism was mirrored by the works of the American Renaissance writers. Not discussed (E) explain why the writers of the American Renaissance believed that an ideal world was forming in America. This claim is later refuted by other writers like NH & HP E 2. Based on the passage’s information, it can be inferred that Emerson might be characterized as any of the following EXCEPT (A) a transcendentalist. Claim can be found in the 3rd line (B) an American Renaissance writer. NH & HP are introduced as "Other Renaissance writer" so that makes RWE as the Renaissance writer being discussed earlier (C) a public speaker. 1st line describes him as pronouncing (D) a would-be prophet. The passage says "the vibrant revolution in national consciousness" was "Prophesied" by RWE (E) a political pragmatist. Selected this by POE. Support can also be found based on his vision of "ideal new world" and "America’s becoming a perfect democracy" D 3. With which of the following statements about Melville and Hawthorne would the author most likely agree? (A) Both men were disillusioned transcendentalists. The dramatized the delusion of transcendentalist dream. But they themselves were not disillusioned transcendentalists (B) Hawthorne sympathized with the transcendental dream more so than Melville. No evidence for this (C) They agreed as to what the transcendentalist dream would ultimately lead to. Incorrect. Both had different & individual views about the consequences of the transcendentalist dream (D) Both men believed the idealists to be misguided. Correct. Evidence: "declared the transcendentalist dream unrealizable" and "Other American Renaissance writers were less optimistic" (E) Hawthorne politicized the transcendental ideal, whereas Melville personalized it. Easy to eliminate. This is not discussed

ricardorr04 · Answer

could someone please help with the first question? I chose D, and still cant understand how the passage refers to "two" schools of thought. My takeaway was about Emerson's ideal vs. that of others who agree/disagree to a degree vs. those of Melville and Hawthorne who disagree. But cannot pinpoint how this merits the primary purpose to be "two schools of thought"

Please advise - thank you!

Please advise - thank you!

bM22 · Answer

Hi  ricardorr04 ,

Please refer the reply by expert here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/when-ralph-waldo-emerson-pronounced-america-s-declaration-of-cultural-315970.html#p2459693

Let me know if you still have doubts.

Thanks.

Sharu2205 · Answer

This looked tough for me can anyone tell me whether vocabulary will be as difficult in Gmat exam?

When Ralph Waldo Emerson pronounced America’s declaration of cultural

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When Ralph Waldo Emerson pronounced America’s declaration of cultural

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