It is an unfortunate fact that most North Americans know little about

Question

It is an unfortunate fact that most North Americans know little about American Indian culture and history. Scholars have studied such matters, but they have not succeeded in broadcasting their conclusions widely. Thus, it is still not widely known that American Indians have epics, that they performed plays long before Europeans arrived, and that they practiced politics and carried on trade.

One way to gain a fuller appreciation of this rich culture is to examine American Indian poetry, for poetry is in all cultures the most central and articulate of the arts. It is especially important that we study American Indian poetry as this poetry can create a context that gives cohesive expression to the crafts, the artifacts, and the isolated facts that many Americans have managed to notice willy-nilly. Even a survey of American Indian poetry reveals a range of poetic thought and technique that defies easy generalization. Jarold Ramsey hazards a summary, however, which serves at least to give the uninitiated reader some sense of what American Indian poetry is like. Overall, he writes, it represents “an oral, formulaic, traditional, and anonymous art form,” whose approach is to emphasize the “mythic and sacred” components of reality. It “flourished through public performances... by skilled recitalists whose audiences already knew the individual stories” and valued the performers for their “ability to exploit their material dramatically and to combine them ［their stories］ in longer cycles” rather than for their “plot invention.” Because this poetry belongs to highly ethnocentric tribal peoples, whose cultures “we still do not know much about,” it “is likely to seem all the more terse, even cryptic.” American Indian poetry has another feature that Ramsey ignores: it is always functional. Whether sung, chanted, or recited; whether performed ceremonially, as entertainment, or as part of a task such as curing a patient or grinding corn; or whether recited individually or by a group, it is always fully woven into the fabric of ordinary life.

For complicated reasons, American Indian poetry has basically been ignored by non-Indian cultures. Kenneth Lincoln writes that failure to hear American Indian voices results “partly...from the tragedies of tribal dislocation, partly from mistranslation, partly from misconceptions about literature, partly from cultural indifference.” Brian Swann suggests an additional explanation: tribal poetry is oral, whereas Europeans arrived in the New World with a deeply ingrained belief in the primacy of the written word. As a result, European settles found it hard to imagine that poetry could exist without written texts and thus that the American Indians had achieved something parallel to what Europeans called literature long before Europeans arrived. As a consequence, Europeans did not fully respond to the rich vitality of American Indian poetry.   1 
1. According to the passage, American Indian cultures have produced all of the following forms of artistic expression EXCEPT
(A) crafts
(B) dramas
(C) songs
(D) written poems
(E) oral epics

2 
2. According to Jarold Ramsey, American Indian poetry is an art form characterized by its
(A) unusual depictions of landscapes
(B) integration with everyday affairs
(C) universal accessibility
(D) highly original plots
(E) adaptability to public performance

3 
3. According to Kenneth Lincoln, one of the reasons that non-Indians have had little knowledge of American Indian poetry is that American Indian poems
(A) have been poorly translated
(B) have not yet attracted the scholarly attention they deserve
(C) can be appreciated only when presented orally
(D) are difficult to understand without a background in comparative mythology
(E) are too stylistically complex

4 
4. According to the passage, it would be unusual for American Indian poetry to be
(A) attributed to specific authors
(B) sung by a group of performers
(C) chanted while working
(D) sung during a sacred ceremony
(E) performed in a dramatic manner

5 
5. It can be inferred from the passage that Brian Swann believes which of the following about the European settlers of America?

(A) They probably were more literate, on the average, than the general European population they left behind.
(B) They probably thought it necessary to understand American Indian politics before studying American Indian literature.
(C) They probably did not recognize evidence of an oral poetic tradition in the American Indian cultures they encountered.
(D) They probably could not appreciate American Indian poetry because it was composed in long narrative cycles.
(E) They probably did not study American Indian poetry because its subject matter was too practically oriented.

6 
6. The tone of lines 12-16 suggests that the author believes that most Americans’ knowledge of American Indian culture can best be characterized as

(A) spotty and contradictory
(B) stereotyped and limited
(C) confused and inaccurate
(D) unsystematic and superficial
(E) vague and biased

7 
7. Which of the following best describes the organization of the last paragraph of the passage?

(A) An observation is made and qualifications of it are provided.
(B) A phenomenon is noted and explanations for it are presented.
(C) A hypothesis is presented and arguments against it are cited.
(D) A prognosis is made and evidence supporting it is discussed.
(E) A criticism is presented and information expanding it is provided.

klorofill29 · Accepted Answer

Here's the definition of the words, this should help understand why option B is correct -

Phenomenon: fact or a situation that is observed to exist, especially one whose cause or explanation is in question.
Observation: Observing, monitoring, a statement made based on something that was seen or heard
Hypothesis: proposition, theory, speculation
Prognosis: forecast of outcome of a likely situation
Criticism: analysis and judgment of merits and faults of a certain something

karanrajc · Answer

Can you explain why answer for 7 is B?  emmafoster

RaguramanS · Answer

2. According to Jarold Ramsey, American Indian poetry is an art form characterized by its
(A) unusual depictions of landscapes
(B) integration with everyday affairs
(C) universal accessibility
(D) highly original plots
(E) adaptability to public performance

This is a detail question. I find difficult to search any answer choice that is mentioned in the passage. Please help me to come up with the official solution

I attributed option 3 as per the description about American Indian poetry given byJR

3. According to Kenneth Lincoln, one of the reasons that non-Indians have had little knowledge of American Indian poetry is that American Indian poems
(A) have been poorly translated
(B) have not yet attracted the scholarly attention they deserve
(C) can be appreciated only when presented orally
(D) are difficult to understand without a background in comparative mythology
(E) are too stylistically complex

I find the same difficulty in this question also. I am not able to correlate the answer choice to the passage detail given by KL

In 7th question can you please explain how to come up with option C
I understood from the last paragraph that the author is trying to state the hypothesis of failure of American Indian culture by quoting two different reasons

Appreciate your time 
Thank you

prashantrchawla · Answer

Took 11 minutes and 43 seconds. 
Last two questions were wrong. If somebody focus on the answer choices of 6 (I choose B) and 7 (I choose E) will be great...

Thanks in advance.

sayantanc2k · Answer

Q-6
Lines 12-16 consist of the following:
 ....skilled recitalists whose audiences already knew the individual stories” and valued the performers for their “ability to exploit their material dramatically and to combine them ［their stories］ in longer cycles” rather than for their “plot invention.” Because this poetry belongs to highly ethnocentric tribal peoples, whose cultures “we still do not know much about,” it “is likely to seem all the more terse, even cryptic.”
American Indian poetry has another feature that Ramsey ignores: it is always functional. Whether sung, chanted, or recited; ...

Nothing can be deciphered from these lines about the author's belief about Americans’ knowledge of American Indian culture.

However a previous line indicates that the answer should be D: "...isolated facts that many Americans have managed to notice  willy-nilly ."

Q-7.
B is alright. the phenomenon is: "American Indian poetry has basically been ignored by non-Indian cultures." Thereafter several explanations are given for this phenomenon:
 ..results “partly...from the tragedies of tribal dislocation, partly from mistranslation, partly from misconceptions about literature, partly from cultural indifference.”  and  an additional explanation by Brian Swann.

No criticism is presented in the last paragraph.

nityakaul02 · Answer

I got question no. 2 incorrect. I marked B as answer. Explanations please.

Krishchamp · Answer

Can someone please give an explanation to Q2 and Q6. Was not able to map the information out in the passage!

bM22 · Answer

Hi  nityakaul02 ,  Krishchamp ,

Let me know if this helps.

2. According to Jarold Ramsey, American Indian poetry is an art form characterized by its
(A) unusual depictions of landscapes
(B) integration with everyday affairs
(C) universal accessibility
(D) highly original plots
 (E) adaptability to public performance

Correct Answer : E,
Explanation: as mentioned in the passage: "Overall, he writes, it represents “an oral, formulaic, traditional, and anonymous art form,” whose approach is to emphasize the “mythic and sacred” components of reality. It “ flourished through public performances... by skilled recitalists whose audiences already knew the individual stories” and valued the performers for their “ability to exploit their material dramatically and to combine them  ［their stories］ in longer cycles” rather than for their “plot invention.” ". The highlighted part implies option E.
Options A,B,C,D are incorrect as we cannot infer them explicitly from the passage, since they are not mentioned in the passage as opinion of Jarold Ramsey.

Thanks.

Krishchamp · Answer

Hey  bm2201 . Thanks for the input but cant we infer option B as well from the last sentence of that paragraph?

bM22 · Answer

Hi  Krishchamp ,

We can infer B,but its not from the view point of Ramsey. It's presented by author as features that Ramsey ignored. Its mentioned in the passage as: "American Indian poetry has another feature that Ramsey ignores:..........it is always fully woven into the fabric of ordinary life.

Hope this Helps.
Thanks.

bM22 · Answer

Hi  Krishchamp ,

Let me know if this helps.

6. The tone of lines 12-16 suggests that the author believes that most Americans’ knowledge of American Indian culture can best be characterized as

(A) spotty and contradictory
(B) stereotyped and limited
(C) confused and inaccurate
 (D) unsystematic and superficial
 (E) vague and biased

Correct Answer: D,
Explanation - Lines 12- 16 of the passage include: "the artifacts, and the isolated facts that many Americans have managed to notice  willy-nilly . Even a survey of American Indian poetry reveals a range of poetic thought and technique that defies easy generalization. Jarold Ramsey hazards a summary, however, which serves at least to give the uninitiated reader some sense of what American Indian poetry is like.", implying that Americans did not consider the American Indian culture with seriousness, They have noticed the facts about the culture without without any proper study, in a haphazard manner(willy-nilly).

Another easier technique would be to use elimination method. From the lines we can clearly infer that other options are not mentioned or have been discussed in the passage.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.

shuklaji · Answer

Sajjad1994  Can you please give official explanation for Q7 and why option C is wring in question 5?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

7. Which of the following best describes the organization of the last paragraph of the passage?

Difficulty Level:   Hard

Explanation

According to the stats this question is termed as a hard 700-level question but personally I think this is not more than a 600-level question. What needed here is concentration on the words used in each answer choice. When we read the passage we come to know that in the  first paragraph  the author presented a problem/issue or subject matter which he/she is going to discuss further.

In the  second paragraph  related information is presented and also the topic concerned is detailed here. In the  last paragraph  the author discuses the possible reason of the issue he/she introduces in the  first paragraph  and detailed in the  second paragraph.  Now read answer options.

(A)  An observation is made  and  qualifications of it  are provided.

If we name the issue or subject the author discussed an observation it is OK But not qualification of that issue been provided rather this word is totally opposite of the reality. so this option has gone.

(B) A phenomenon is noted and explanations for it are presented.

This option is correct the word explanation is truly depicted the scene what we have observed in the passage, if someone is doubtful just read the passage again, slowly and with full concentration. Keep this one.

(C) A  hypothesis  is presented and  arguments against  it are cited.

A hypothesis could be true or could be wrong as it is only a speculation, here we found no such evidence from which we can say the author has presented anything based on his/her experiments rather he or she provided a factual information. This option is easy elimination.

(D) A  prognosis  is made and  evidence supporting  it is discussed.

Author has given no opinion about the topic rather he provided a factual information. This is out.

(E) A  criticism  is presented and  information expanding  it is provided.

Criticism? really I don't think so, this option is too far away, if someone think this option could be the answer he or she need real help with the reading comprehension.

Answer: B

In question number 5 answer is indeed C.

Thank you

reviewtattantat · Answer

2. According to Jarold Ramsey, American Indian poetry is an art form characterized by its
 Even a survey of American Indian poetry reveals a range of poetic thought and technique that defies easy generalization.   Jarold Ramsey   hazards a summary, however, which serves at least to give the uninitiated reader some sense of what   American Indian poetry   is like. Overall,   he   writes, it represents  “an oral, formulaic, traditional, and anonymous art form,” whose approach is to emphasize the “mythic and sacred” components of reality. It “flourished through public performances... by skilled recitalists whose audiences already knew the individual stories” and valued the performers for their “ability to exploit their material dramatically and to combine them ［their stories］ in longer cycles” rather than for their “plot invention. ”

(A) unusual depictions of  landscapes 
(B) integration with  everyday affairs 
(C) universal  accessibility 
(D) highly  original plots
 (E) adaptability to public performance  = flourished through public performances...

VerbalBot · Answer

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It is an unfortunate fact that most North Americans know little about

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It is an unfortunate fact that most North Americans know little about

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