Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized for You
we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Track Your Progress
every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance
Practice Pays
we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Thank you for using the timer!
We noticed you are actually not timing your practice. Click the START button first next time you use the timer.
There are many benefits to timing your practice, including:
Do RC/MSR passages scare you? e-GMAT is conducting a masterclass to help you learn – Learn effective reading strategies, Tackle difficult RC & MSR with confidence, and Excel in timed test environment
Join us in a comprehensive talk about the F1 Student Visa process with Travis Feuerbacher, former U.S. Visa Officer and licensed U.S. immigration attorney having expertise working for the U.S. Department of State
Ready to skyrocket your career with an MBA? Get ahead with our curated list of FREE courses and resources to kickstart your journey into business education!
Are you attending an MBA or Masters program outside in the US or Europe and wondering how to finance your studies? In this exclusive conversation, we discuss the collateral-free non-cosigner education loans...
Solve 30 high quality GMAT Focus practice questions in timed conditions. Take this GMAT practise test live with peers, analyze your GMAT study progress, and see where you stand in the GMAT student pool.
After just 3 months of studying with the TTP GMAT Focus course, Conner scored an incredible 755 (Q89/V90/DI83) on the GMAT Focus. In this live interview, he shares how he achieved his outstanding 755 (100%) GMAT Focus score on test day.
What do András from Hungary, Pablo from Mexico, Conner from the United States, Giorgio from Italy, Leo from Germany, and Rishab from India have in common? They all earned top scores on the GMAT Focus Edition using the Target Test Prep course!
Join us for an exclusive one-day event focused on mastering the GMAT and maximizing your preparation resources! Here's what you can expect: Don't miss out on this invaluable opportunity to supercharge your GMAT preparation journey.
For the poet Phillis Wheatley, who was brought to colonial
[#permalink]
17 Jul 2004, 00:03
For the poet Phillis Wheatley, who was brought to colonial New England as a slave in 1761, the formal literary code of eighteenth-century English was thrice removed: by the initial barrier of the unfamiliar English language, by the discrepancy between spoken and literary forms of English, and by the African tradition of oral rather than written verbal art. Wheatley transcended these barriers - she learned the English language and English literary forms so quickly and well that she was composing good poetry in English within a few years of her arrival in New England.
Wheatley's experience exemplifies the meeting of oral and written literary cultures. The aesthetic principles of the African oral tradition were preserved in America by folk artist in work songs, dancing, field hollers, religious music, the use of the drum, and, after the drum was forbidden, in the perpetuation of drum effects in song. African languages and the functions of language in African societies not only contributed to the emergence of a distinctive Black English but also exerted demonstrable effects on the manner in which other Americans spoke English. Given her African heritage and her facility with English and the conventions of English poetry, Wheatley's work had the potential to apply the ideas of a written literature to an oral literary tradition in the creation of an African American literary language.
But this was a potential that her poetry unfortunately did not exploit. The standards of eighteenth-century English poetry, which itself reflected little of the American language, led Wheatley to develop a notion of poetry as a closed system, derived from imitation of earlier written works. No place existed for the rough-and -ready Americanized English she heard in the streets, for the English spoken by Black people, or for Africanisms. The conventions of eighteenth-century neoclassical poetry ruled out casual talk; her voice and feelings had to be generalized according to rules of poetic diction and characterization; the particulars of her African past, if they were to be dealt with at all, had to be subordinated to the reigning conventions. African poetry did not count as poetry in her new situation, and African aesthetic canons were irrelevant to the new context because no linguistic or social framework existed to reinforce them. Wheatley adopted a foreign language and a foreign literary tradition; they were not extensions of her past experience, but replacements.
Thus limited by the eighteenth-century English literary code, Wheatley's poetry contributed little to the development of a distinctive African American literary language. Yet by the standards of the literary conventions in which she chose to work, Wheatley's poetry is undeniably accomplished, and she is justly celebrated as the first Black American poet.
1. Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
(A) Folk artists employed more principles of African oral tradition in their works than did Phillis Wheatley in her poetry. (B) Although Phillis Wheatley had to overcome significant barriers in learning English, she mastered the literary conventions of eighteenth-century English as well as African aesthetic canons. (C) Phillis Wheatley's poetry did not fulfill the potential inherent in her experience but did represent a significant accomplishment. (D) The evolution of a distinctive African American literary language can be traced from the creations of African American folk artists to the poetry of Phillis Wheatley. (E) Phillis Wheatley joined with African American folk artists in preserving the principles of the African oral tradition. 2. According to the passage, African languages had a notable influence on (A) the religious music of colonists in New England (B) the folk art of colonists in New England (C) formal written English (D) American speech patterns (E) eighteenth-century aesthetic principles 3. According to the passage, the standards of eighteenth-century English poetry permitted Wheatley to include which of the following in her poetry? (A) generalized feelings (B) Americanized English (C) themes from folk art (D) casual talk (E) Black speech 4. Which one of the following, if true, would most weaken the author's argument concerning the role that Wheatley played in the evolution of an African American literary language? (A) Wheatley's poetry was admired in England for its faithfulness to the conventions of neoclassical poetry. (B) Wheatley compiled a history in English of her family's experiences in Africa and America. (C) The language barriers that Wheatley overcame were eventually transcended by all who were brought from Africa as slaves. (D) Several modern African American poets acknowledge the importance of Wheatley's poetry to American literature. (E) Scholars trace themes and expressions in African American poetry back to the poetry of Wheatley. 5. It can be inferred that the author of the passage would most probably have praised Phillis Wheatley's poetry more if it had (A) affected the manner in which slaves and freed Black people spoke English. (B) defined African American artistic expression in terms of earlier works. (C) adopted the standards of eighteenth-century English poetry. (D) combined elements of the English literary tradition with those of the African oral tradition. (E) focused on the barriers that written English literary forms presented to Black artists. 6. Which one of the following most accurately characterizes the author's attitude with respect to Phillis Wheatley's literary accomplishments? (A) enthusiastic advocacy (B) qualified admiration (C) dispassionate impartiality (D) detached ambivalence (E) perfunctory dismissal
Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block below for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Re: For the poet Phillis Wheatley, who was brought to colonial
[#permalink]
19 Jul 2004, 05:00
My answers are :
1-C
2-D
3-A
4-E
5-E
6-B
Please publish OAs.
Forgot to add the time. It is 7mts 50s. 3mts for reading and the rest for the queries. Looks relatively easy one. Got to judge after the publication of OAs.
Vithal wrote:
My answers: 1)C 2)D 3)B 4)A 5)D 6)B
Total Time taken: 7min 51s
Will explain the answers later (as it takes time to type in all the explanations )
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block above for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
gmatclubot
Re: For the poet Phillis Wheatley, who was brought to colonial [#permalink]