Tillie Olsen’s fiction and essays have been widely and rightly acknowl

Question

Project RC Butler 2020  -  Participate and win GMAT Club Tests.   
Passage # 129, Date: 04-Jun-2020
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Tillie Olsen’s fiction and essays have been widely and rightly acknowledged as major contributions to American literature. Her work has been particularly valued by contemporary feminists. Yet few of Olsen’s readers realize the extent to which her vision and choice of subject are rooted in an earlier literary heritage—the tradition of radical political thought, mostly socialist and anarchist, of the 1910’s and 1920’s, and the Old Left tradition of the 1930’s.  I do not mean that one can adequately explain the eloquence of her work in terms of its political origins, or that left-wing politics were the single most important influence on it.  My point is that its central consciousness—its profound understanding of class and gender as shaping influences on people’s lives—owes much to that earlier literary heritage, a heritage that, in general, has not been sufficiently valued by most contemporary literary critics.   1 
 The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) argue that Olsen’s understanding of class and gender is her greatest gift as a writer
(B) acknowledge Olsen’s importance as the leading spokesperson for a radical literary heritage
(C) point out a literary heritage to which Olsen’s work is related
(D) urge literary critics to investigate the origins of a literary heritage
(E) suggest that Olsen’s work has been placed in a literary heritage to which it does not belong

2 
 According to the author, which of the following is true of the heritage mentioned in the passage?

(A) It emphasizes gender as the determinate influence on people’s lives.
(B) It has been the most important influence on Olsen’s work.
(C) It includes political traditions that span three decades of the twentieth century.
(D) It explains the eloquence but not the subject matter of Olsen’s work.
(E) It reflects primarily the development of socialist political thought in the early twentieth century.

3 
 In the sentence “I do not … influence on it” (Bolded Text), the author dos which of the following?

(A) Broadens an existing classification.
(B) Contradicts the passage’s central thesis.
(C) Qualifies a commonly accepted point of view.
(D) Presents conflicting explanations for a phenomenon.
(E) Denies possible interpretations of an earlier assertion.

4 
 According to the author, Olsen’s work has been

(A) rightly acknowledged for its contribution to political thought
(B) thought to represent the beginning of new literary tradition
(C) a needed impetus for social change
(D) most clearly influenced by feminism
(E) deservedly admired by readers

Please hit Kudos if you like it!

HoneyLemon · Answer

Total Time 8 minutes for completing the passage . 4 min for 1st ques and approx 4 min for rest 3 ques . 
Fact -- y 
TO's fiction and ess-- ackged .
many fan - but few realise the how deeply rooted in heritage (fcat)
-ve 
Author is clarifying something .that .. but most has not valued ..

--------------
Passage analysis : 
   The is providing fact that though,TO's work had been widely acknowledged , few realize the extent TO's vision n subject are rooted in earlier literary heritage.

Author is clarifying his views that >50% of the contemporary literary critics have not valued earlier literary heritage on which TO's works were around . 
 
tone : negative

Main Point :
  >50% of the contemporary literary critics have not valued earlier literary heritage on which TO's works were around .

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

Pre think : we already did that above .

(A) argue that Olsen’s understanding of class and gender is her greatest gift as a writer

-- Author is not arguing . 
 
(B) acknowledge Olsen’s importance as the leading spokesperson for a radical literary heritage

-- The phrase spokesperson for a radical literary heritage is not justifiable from the passage . Since it is not spoken of . 
 
(C) point out a literary heritage to which Olsen’s work is related

-- True wrt to the passage but it is not the main point. 
 
(D) urge literary critics to investigate the origins of a literary heritage

-- IMO , It is not directly spoken in the passage , however from the last line of the main point of the passage this can be infered that since most contemporary literary critics have not valued earlier literary heritage on which TO's works were around , they need to find the the origins of a literary heritage to understand the central consciousness of TO's works.

My point is that its central consciousness—its profound understanding of class and gender as shaping influences on people’s lives—owes much to that earlier literary heritage, a heritage that, in general, has not been sufficiently valued by most contemporary literary critics.

(E) suggest that Olsen’s work has been placed in a literary heritage to which it does not belong

-- not spoken in the passage . in a literary heritage to which it does not belong cannot be justified . 
 
 D is best among all . 
 ---------------

2. 
According to the author, which of the following is true of the heritage mentioned in the passage?

(A) It emphasizes gender as the determinate influence on people’s lives.

--Correct 
 given in psg . 
 
 its profound understanding of class and gender as shaping influences on people’s lives—owes much to that earlier literary heritage
 
(B) It has been the most important influence on Olsen’s work.

-- Most is a strong word . Cannot be justified .

(C) It includes political traditions that span three decades of the twentieth century.

-- We don't know whether it includes 
political traditions that span only three decades of the twentieth century.
Cannnot be justified ..

(D) It explains the eloquence but not the subject matter of Olsen’s work.

-- Not spoken in psg 
 
(E) It reflects primarily the development of socialist political thought in the early twentieth century.
 -- primarily the development of socialist political thought .. cannot be justified from the psg . 
 
 Hence A is my ans .

--
3. 
In the sentence “ I do not … influence on it ” (Bolded Text), the author dos which of the following?

We understood from the pre-thinking that author is clarifying certain assertion . 
 
(A) Broadens an existing classification.

(B) Contradicts the passage’s central thesis.
(C) Qualifies a commonly accepted point of view.
(D) Presents conflicting explanations for a phenomenon.
(E) Denies possible interpretations of an earlier assertion.

Out of all the options only option E matches , direct and sweet . 
So E is my answer .

--------
4.

Can any one help me in this ques .

According to the author, Olsen’s work has been

(A) rightly acknowledged for its contribution to political thought
(B) thought to represent the beginning of new literary tradition
(C) a needed impetus for social change
(D) most clearly influenced by feminism
(E) deservedly admired by readers

I was confused in this question and marked E as I though that TO's work is deservedly admired by readers . I eliminated option D considering most clearly is a strong word .

Later when I checked the answer I realized that it is an generic inference from below lines .

Her work has been particularly valued by contemporary feminists.
I do not mean that one can adequately explain the eloquence of her work in terms of its political origins, or 
that 
left-wing politics 
were the single most important influence on it.
its profound understanding of class and gender as shaping influences on people’s lives—owes much to that earlier literary heritage .

However I need an expert view to help me in correcting my understanding .

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official answers of this RC were all wrong, thanks to the reporter, i have edited the OAs now and  Evo23  please do not post wrong OAs again.

Correct OAs are

1. C
2. C
3. E
4. E

Regards

dushyantkanal · Answer

Oh man!! Hahahahaha
I thought I was losing my grip on RC after this passage. 
Thank you Sajjad!

Decided not to post because i thought I only got 1 right and 3 wrong...Will start posting from June 5th onwards now

1.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Sorry for the inconvenience and trouble caused. It was a mistake by the poster of the question and was found out by a member who report this to us. Next time if any thing like this happens please report to us by clicking on the "Report a problem" button. 123.jpg Thanks

dushyantkanal · Answer

For sure...Thank you for being so prompt and also for starting RC Butler 2020...Really helping in my prep

HoneyLemon · Answer

Thanks a lot for correcting the OA . Even I was getting mad with my understanding , now its clear .

jaisonsunny77 · Answer

(1) The primary purpose of the passage is to
Towards the end of the passage, we have "its central consciousness—owes much to that earlier literary heritage, a heritage that, in general, has not been sufficiently valued by most contemporary literary critics." In other words, Olsen's works are related to a literary heritage that is not sufficiently valued by most contemporary critics. This idea is expressed best in (C).

(C) point out a literary heritage to which Olsen’s work is related.
Hence, (C) is the right answer choice here.

(2) According to the author, which of the following is true of the heritage mentioned in the passage?

(C) It includes political traditions that span three decades of the twentieth century. - Towards the middle of the passage, we have "an earlier literary heritage—the tradition of radical political thought, mostly socialist and anarchist, of the 1910’s and 1920’s, and the Old Left tradition of the 1930’s." (C) encompasses what the heritage is all about. Hence, (C) is the right answer choice here.

(3) In the sentence “I do not … influence on it” (Bolded Text), the author dos which of the following?

In the sentence that precedes the bold sentence, the author makes an assertion that "few of Olsen’s readers realize the extent to which her vision and choice of subject are rooted in..........—the tradition of radical political thought, mostly socialist and anarchist"

The author then proceeds to make the bold faced statement whereby he/she claims that "I do not mean that..."; this boldfaced statement is made to avoid/prevent any misinterpretations of the preceding assertion made by the author. (E) highlights this perfectly.

(E) Denies possible interpretations of an earlier assertion.

Hence, (E) is the right answer choice.

(4) According to the author, Olsen’s work has been

The author acknowledges the popularity of olsen's work. The author then goes on to explain/establish the true focus of Olsen's works.

~~(A) rightly acknowledged for its contribution to political thought~~ - not asserted by the passage.
~~(B) thought to represent the beginning of new literary tradition~~ - Olsen's work does represent a literary heritage but not a new one
~~(C) a needed impetus for social change~~ - not implied by the passage.
~~(D) most clearly influenced by feminism~~ - feminism is identified as one of the factors, not as the primary factor.
(E) deservedly admired by readers - this reflects the main tone of the author towards Olsen's works. Hence, (E) is the right answer choice.

PS: I did not get some of the questions right on my first attempt. So if you can relate to my experience, then please don't worry. Good things take time. Stay motivated.

QuaKid · Answer

I think that right answers is:
1. C
2. C
3. E
4. E

Akhil5495 · Answer

Can anyone explain why A and B are wrong in Q2?
What part of the answer choice is incorrect precisely

Tillie Olsen’s fiction and essays have been widely and rightly acknowl

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

Tillie Olsen’s fiction and essays have been widely and rightly acknowl

Prep Toolkit

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