Socialist realism, the officially approved style of realistic art deve

6 mins, all correct. A nice small and sweet passage

Only option E makes complete sense. The passage on the whole explains how the control over the art form to promote political ideas (socialist realism) failed to acheived the intended goal.

1. Which of the following most accurately states the main point of the passage?

(A) Socialist realism had, as its chief objective, the furtherance of socialist and communist ideology.
- This is only stated in the first paragraph. And you can see the theme changes in the second para.

(B) Because of the censorship, socialist realism never fulfilled its artistic potential.
- The passage doesn't seem to suggest it. It says that art was prolific. Hence, it was probably growing.

(C) The art of socialist realism was a welcome distraction from the bleak reality of ordinary Russians.
- I kind of liked this option. Because in the last line which I sort of took as a conclusion, the author says that irony and laughter were abundant, unlike food. However, this does not capture the theme of social realism, which is the center of our passage.

(D) Conformity to state doctrine led to an ostensibly truthful representation of reality in its revolutionary development.
- I thought this was out of scope. Just the words were too strong.An ostensibly truthful representation sounds like it can't be debated but here we are debating it in the passage.

(E) The proliferation of uniformly positive images of a fictional world impeded, rather than promoted, the political objectives of socialist realism.
- It is a wordy option hence read it while splitting it. Social realism had some political objectives which were impeded by the state. This option suggests the same. Hence, it is the correct answer.

what is its difficulty level? according to each question ?

Pretty certain that both are 700+

Official Answer (Powerscore RC Bible 2020)


(A) is incorrect, because it does not represent a summary of the passage. The author does not try to convince us that socialist realism sought to further socialist and communist ideology; the fact that it did is merely stated as a fact in the first paragraph.

(B) is incorrect, because the artistic potential of socialist realism is not under discussion.

(C) is incorrect, because it is not the main point of the passage. While socialist realism did provide a refuge from the bleak reality of ordinary Russians, the rest of the passage does not seek to support this claim.

(D) is incorrect, because the effects of censorship on artistic representation is not the main point of the passage. Furthermore, as the discussion in the second paragraph shows, censorship led to a fictitious representation of reality, which compromised its primary objectives.

(E) is the correct answer choice, as it most closely parallels the idea that by censoring artistic expression, the state amplified the disconnect between reality and fiction, which ultimately compromised the objectives of socialist realism.


(A) is incorrect, because it is not the author who rejects the art of socialist realism as a utopian vision: if anything, the Russian people did. “Rejecting” an artistic style implies some sort of judgment, which is not the primary purpose of the passage.

(B) is incorrect. The author mentions that there was a disconnect between reality and fiction in the Soviet Union, but the primary purpose of the passage is not to analyze this fact.

(C) is attractive, but incorrect. The art of socialist realism failed to achieve its political objectives; its conformity to state doctrine was never under question.

(D) is the correct answer choice. The first paragraph outlines the political objectives of socialist realism, while the second paragraph explains why these objectives were not ultimately achieved. In the broadest of terms, the passage as a whole examines the extent to which a style of art achieved its political objectives.

(E) is incorrect, because it only describes the function of the first paragraph, not of the passage as a whole.