Jean Wagner's most enduring contribution to the study of Afro-American

Question

Jean Wagner's most enduring contribution to the study of Afro-American poetry is his insistence that it be analyzed in a religious, as well as secular, frame of reference. The appropriateness of such an approach may seem self-evident for a tradition commencing with spirituals and owing its early forms, rhythms, vocabulary, and evangelical fervor to Wesleyan hymnals. But before Wagner a secular outlook that analyzed Black poetry solely within the context of political and social protest was dominant in the field.

It is Wagner who first demonstrated the essential fusion of racial and religious feeling in Afro-American poetry. The two, he argued, form a symbiotic union in which religious feelings are often applied to racial issues and racial problems are often projected onto a metaphysical plane. Wagner found this most eloquently illustrated in the Black spiritual, where the desire for freedom in this world and the hope for salvation in the next are inextricably intertwined.    1 
 1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) contrast the theories of Jean Wagner with those of other contemporary critics 
(B) document the influence of Jean Wagner on the development of Afro-American poetry 
(C) explain the relevance of Jean Wagner's work to the study of Afro-American religion 
(D) indicate the importance of Jean Wagner's analysis of Afro-American poetry 
(E) present the contributions of Jean Wagner to the study of Black spirituals

2 
 2. All of the following aspects of Afro-American poetry are referred to in the passage as having been influenced by Wesleyan hymnals EXCEPT

(A) subject matter 
(B) word choice 
(C) rhythm 
(D) structure 
(E) tone

3 
 3. It can be inferred from the passage that, before Wagner, most students of Afro-American poetry did which of the following?

(A) Contributed appreciably to the transfer of political protest from Afro-American poetry to direct political action. 
(B) Ignored at least some of the historical roots of Afro-American poetry. 
(C) Analyzed fully the aspects of social protest to be found in such traditional forms of AfroAmerican poetry as the Black spiritual. 
(D) Regarded as unimportant the development of fervent emotionalism in a portion of AfroAmerican poetry. 
(E) Concentrated on the complex relations between the technical elements in Afro-American poetry and its political content.

AndrewN · Accepted Answer

In the interest of helping the community, I would be happy to offer my thoughts on each question. On a personal note, I went 3/3. Question 1, with the reading of the passage factored in, took 1:46; question 2 took 1:03; and question 3 took 0:54. I record these times to emphasize the point that there should be no strict cutoff per question when you approach RC. I am not ashamed to admit that I have taken up to 4 minutes on a single question before (on a Hard passage)--not even the first question, mind you, so I cannot hide behind the excuse that I was reading the passage. I just wanted to read for accuracy, and my timing across the RC set was still around 2 minutes per question. Again, focus on improving your reading skills and question techniques first; timing can come later.

With that said, I will get right to the matter at hand.

QUESTION 1

The passage points out that Wagner added a religious interpretation or analysis to the existing secular one in  the study of Afro-American poetry . There is no such contrast of theories presented in the passage. The very fact that the first line acknowledges that Wagner insists that the poetry in question  be analyzed in a religious,  as well as secular , frame of reference  shows that the two theories are not incompatible, just that the established  secular outlook  mentioned at the end of the first paragraph missed the  fusion ,  union , or  intertwined  nature of the religious and secular in Afro-American poetry, to borrow the language of the passage.

I probably spent the most time assessing this option, although it is a clear case of misdirection. I like the neutral  document  here. However, Wagner cannot be said to have  influenced  Afro-American poetry; rather, he writes about  influences , both secular and religious, on Afro-American poetry.

According to the passage, the analysis of Wagner is not just relevant to the study of Afro-American poetry, but it has changed an established view of the lens through which such poetry should be interpreted. Furthermore, it is the study of Afro-American  poetry , not religion, in which Wagner has played a seminal role. Yes, Wagner introduced the notion that religion should be considered when studying Afro-American poetry, but this is not the same thing as studying Afro-American religion itself. This is the kind of sleight of hand I would expect of a GMATTM or GRE® answer choice.

Notice the lack of  red . There is simply nothing to argue against here. The passage does  indicate  something. (Notice the toned-down language, a hallmark of correct responses in many  main idea  or  primary purpose  questions.) The passage also discusses how pivotal, or important, the work of Jean Wagner has been. Finally, the analysis matches up as well. Unlike the Afro-American  religion  of the previous answer choice, this one puts  poetry  front and center. An unassailable answer is the  correct  one.

Again, I have no problem with the opening word,  present . But Wagner did not analyze Black spirituals. Instead, the analysis in question pertains to Afro-American poetry. This answer runs in a similar vein to (B), and it can be rejected on similar grounds.

QUESTION 2

This is a detail question, one that has a basis in a single line from the passage. If you need to answer a question that mentions  Wesleyan hymnals , then find Wesleyan hymnals in the passage and stick to that information as closely as possible. (I call this  keyword matching .) The first paragraph contains our line:

The appropriateness of such an approach may seem self-evident for a tradition commencing with spirituals and owing its early forms, rhythms, vocabulary, and evangelical fervor to Wesleyan hymnals.

This should be like knocking down ducks in a row (in a carnival game, not in real life). Which elements are mentioned, and which is the odd one out?

As odd as it may seem, this is the omitted element. Our four parts from the above line are  forms, rhythms, vocabulary, and evangelical fervor . If you are unsure whether  subject matter  is the same as maybe  forms , then you could  yellow-light  the answer for the time being and see if you can get rid of other, more obviously INCORRECT answer choices.

This sounds an awful lot like  vocabulary  to me. Let this one bow out of the running.

No one should be picking this answer, as  rhythms  are explicitly mentioned as the second item in the list above.

Structure  is synonymous with  form  from the excerpt. Although the two are not always linked in this way--you would not talk about an architectural  form  in reference to a building, for example--the context makes it clear enough that of the four elements from the line above, this one matches up with  forms . Thus, we need to look elsewhere for our exception.

Another answer choice that requires a little vocabulary-flexing. Here,  tone  pairs perfectly well with  fervor . The tone of a speech or passage is the manner in which the speaker or author approaches the task at hand, with an eye on the audience and how the words may be perceived. Likewise, the  evangelical fervor  mentioned above might make you think of impassioned speakers--maybe televangelists pushing religion, or salespeople getting a rise out of the audience to sell a product or service--and the effect they hope their delivery will have. If you had any doubts about (A) before, now would be the time to go back and pick it.

QUESTION 3

This is almost a reiteration of the main idea. We should understand by the third question that Wagner introduced the notion of analyzing the influence of religion,  as well as  secular sources, in the study of Afro-American poetry. Since the question asks specifically about the study of such poetry  before Wagner , we need to find a line that references time in some way, either pre- or post-Wagner. The last line of the first paragraph fits the bill:

But before Wagner a secular outlook that analyzed Black poetry solely within the context of political and social protest was dominant in the field.

We have our anchor in the text, so we are ready to find the answer that matches.

This sounds important, but the line above does not discuss spearheading political movements based on poetry. It mentions merely that before Wagner, a secular outlook, rather than an integrated outlook, dominated the field.

Again, no  red . There is no absolute or definitive language. The padded  at least some  works, given that we know from the passage that Wagner is praised for his analysis of both religious and secular influences on Afro-American poetry. What was missing before was the acknowledgment of such religious influences. This is our answer.

A full analysis would have covered the various influences that Wagner had to come along and point out. But beyond this, if you look at the part of the passage that discusses  the Black spiritual , you see that it mentions only  racial issues and racial problems , which is not the same as saying  all aspects of social protest . Keep moving.

It is not that previous students failed to appreciate anything having to do with  emotionalism . The issue is one of religious influence. For this to be the correct answer, you would have to find something in the text to justify it. You cannot simply conjure up something that sounds pertinent. There is just no basis for this claim in the passage. (If you can find a line, you have better eyes than I.)

Like the previous answer, this one has no grounding in the passage. Previous students overlooked religious influences on Afro-American poetry, plain and simple. All this mumbo-jumbo about complexity and  technical elements  is nothing more than important-sounding fluff.

I hope that helps the community. I do not typically respond to RC requests, not because I do not enjoy the questions, but it takes a long time to respond to several of them at once and provide thoughtful analyses.

Anyway, best of luck to you in your studies.

- Andrew

Rinng0 · Answer

Hi,

Can you please explain Q3?

I think it is from the below part of the passage. But, I can not infer the OA. Am I missing something?

"But before Wagner a secular outlook that analyzed Black poetry solely within the context of political and social protest was dominant in the field."

sharathnair14 · Answer

Hey! 
Yes, that is part of what you're meant to refer to in the passage for this question. 
Move on to the second paragraph, it mentions how the Black Spiritual indeed had poetic work and that Wagner was the first to discover and assert this. It means that this was sort of a norm (probably unintentional of poets to include spiritual/relgious references in poems) and that the people who researched/worked in the poetic field (includes students too) did disregard this practice (aka tradition) in a way.

thangvietnam · Answer

passage is easy but the questions are hard. the difficulty comes from the inference we need to make from the sentences in the passage .

regarding question 3.

this is the opposite information question typical on gmat. the information in the passage is X and we are asked about information which is opposite to X.
before 2000, company do not do X
question ask after 2000 what dose company do?

we need to read only one sentence "before Wagner..." to answer the question 3. but the inference is hard even we make inference from a short sentence. practice and we win.

this passage is at 700 level. 
dont be happy to soon when we see an easy passage.

PhantomAY · Answer

4min50s, 2 of 3 correct.

Notes:

Paragraph 1: JW's contribution to study of AA poetry is to introduce "religious analysis". Before that, it's only "secular".

Paragraph 2: Further explanations of JW's analysis on AA poetry.

A) "contrast" is not the right word
B) almost correct except for "on the development of AA poetry". JW didn't do that (as not mentioned)
C) almost correct except for "AA religion", should be "poetry"
D) correct
E) Black spirituals is too general (or too specific), which is not the main idea

Refer to  "The appropriateness of such an approach may seem self-evident for a tradition commencing with  spirituals and owing its early forms, rhythms, vocabulary, and evangelical fervor to Wesleyan hymnals.  "

A) not mentioned
B) refer to "vocabulary"
C) refer to "rhythms"
D) refer to "form"
E) refer to "evangelical fervor"

Refer to  "The appropriateness of such an approach may seem self-evident for  a tradition commencing  with spirituals and owing its early forms, rhythms, vocabulary, and evangelical fervor to Wesleyan hymnals. But before Wagner a secular outlook that analyzed Black poetry solely within the context of political and social protest was dominant in the field." , so most studies ignore the "religious outlook" that JW emphasized.

A) not mentioned
B) correct, "historical roots" refers to "a tradition"
C) whether those studies analyzed "fully the aspects of social protest" is beyond the information given by author here. All what's mentioned is "analyzed black poetry solely within the contexst of political and social protest..."
D) whether preceding studies "regarded as unimportant" is unknown. It could be they didn't even think about it. 
E) "the complex relations between technical elements and its political content" is not mentioned

VerbalBot · Answer

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Jean Wagner's most enduring contribution to the study of Afro-American

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Jean Wagner's most enduring contribution to the study of Afro-American

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