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May 0312:30 AM EDT
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Learn how Kamakshi achieved a GMAT 675 with an impressive 96th %ile in Data Insights. Discover the unique methods and exam strategies that helped her excel in DI along with other sections for a balanced and high score.
05 Jul 2023, 20:00
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Question 1
B
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
45%
(medium)
Question Stats:
60% (03:24) correct
40%
(03:13) wrong
based on 222
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 2
A
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
55%
(hard)
Question Stats:
54% (01:29) correct 46%
(01:19) wrong
based on 257
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 3
D
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
35%
(medium)
Question Stats:
62% (01:13) correct 38%
(01:21) wrong
based on 254
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 4
E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
25%
(medium)
Question Stats:
68% (00:52) correct 32%
(01:10) wrong
based on 240
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 5
B
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
75%
(hard)
Question Stats:
38% (01:25) correct 62%
(01:15) wrong
based on 236
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 6
C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
65%
(hard)
Question Stats:
36% (00:48) correct 64%
(00:48) wrong
based on 227
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
The two essays in which Virginia Woolf pursues women’s role in art and politics have traditionally been seen as a problematical adjunct to her novels. While A Room of One’s Own, with its acerbic wit, has been given grudging respect, the outspokenly programmatic Three Guineas has been dismissed as a pacifist-feminist tract. No doubt these essays lack the subtlety and superb control of the novels, but to a recent generation of critics they remain significant because of their anticipation of many of the concerns of contemporary feminism.
A Room of One’s Own (1929) is written in the form of a lecture “delivered” at a fictitious women’s college. Woolf begins by contrasting the paltry luncheon given at the college with the luxurious fare offered at a nearby men’s university. The difference symbolizes more profound disparities that—Woolf now comes to her main point—bear directly on the fortunes of women artists. For the woman author, financial independence, opportunities for education, tranquillity, and privacy are necessary preconditions, without which women are unlikely to produce works of genius. Great art can never be expected from “labouring, servile, or uneducated people.” (Among modern feminists, Tillie Olsen makes a similar point in Silences, though without Woolf’s undertone of class condescension.) When a woman obtains a room of her own, in all its senses, she may, according to Woolf, develop what Coleridge termed “the androgynous mind,” one which, having united its “male” and “female” sides, “transcends and comprehends the feelings of both sexes.”
In Three Guineas (1938), Woolf’s central argument, again foreshadowing a key contention of later feminism, is that the process of changing gender restrictions in the public world and in the private individual areinterdependent. Such issues as childrearing (which she felt should be a shared responsibility) and professional equality between the sexes are not separate considerations, but rather different aspects of the same problem. Woolf also attempts to define women’s responsibilities in the larger political world. Discussing the probability of another world war, she argues that women with jobs in manufacturing should refuse to produce arms for use in a male-instigated debacle. Both at the time and since, many readers have found this argument naive. One working-class reader, Agnes Smith, wrote Woolf that the book was decidedly class bound; working women could hardly afford to jeopardize their employment for a pacifist idea. Current feminist critics accept the validity of Smith’s point—indeed, they acknowledge that it exposes a limitation of Woolf’s feminism generally—but they also note that the mild derision that greeted Three Guineas from the male establishment was typical of the reception often given a woman thinker’s ideas.
A Room of One’s Own (1929) is written in the form of a lecture “delivered” at a fictitious women’s college. Woolf begins by contrasting the paltry luncheon given at the college with the luxurious fare offered at a nearby men’s university. The difference symbolizes more profound disparities that—Woolf now comes to her main point—bear directly on the fortunes of women artists. For the woman author, financial independence, opportunities for education, tranquillity, and privacy are necessary preconditions, without which women are unlikely to produce works of genius. Great art can never be expected from “labouring, servile, or uneducated people.” (Among modern feminists, Tillie Olsen makes a similar point in Silences, though without Woolf’s undertone of class condescension.) When a woman obtains a room of her own, in all its senses, she may, according to Woolf, develop what Coleridge termed “the androgynous mind,” one which, having united its “male” and “female” sides, “transcends and comprehends the feelings of both sexes.”
In Three Guineas (1938), Woolf’s central argument, again foreshadowing a key contention of later feminism, is that the process of changing gender restrictions in the public world and in the private individual areinterdependent. Such issues as childrearing (which she felt should be a shared responsibility) and professional equality between the sexes are not separate considerations, but rather different aspects of the same problem. Woolf also attempts to define women’s responsibilities in the larger political world. Discussing the probability of another world war, she argues that women with jobs in manufacturing should refuse to produce arms for use in a male-instigated debacle. Both at the time and since, many readers have found this argument naive. One working-class reader, Agnes Smith, wrote Woolf that the book was decidedly class bound; working women could hardly afford to jeopardize their employment for a pacifist idea. Current feminist critics accept the validity of Smith’s point—indeed, they acknowledge that it exposes a limitation of Woolf’s feminism generally—but they also note that the mild derision that greeted Three Guineas from the male establishment was typical of the reception often given a woman thinker’s ideas.
1. As used by Woolf, the phrase “a room of one’s own” apparently refers to all of the following EXCEPT
A. freedom from economic insecurity
B. separation of the “male” and “female” sides of consciousness
C. educational opportunities for women equal to those available to men
D. personal autonomy
E. the ability to work without distractions
A. freedom from economic insecurity
B. separation of the “male” and “female” sides of consciousness
C. educational opportunities for women equal to those available to men
D. personal autonomy
E. the ability to work without distractions
2. Judging from the second paragraph, which of the following assumptions did Woolf make in the discussion of women writers?
A. The mind can be characterized as having masculine and feminine aspects.
B. All great authors have come from economically privileged backgrounds.
C. There have been no truly great women writers in the past.
D. Artistic development is independent of formal education.
E. Investigation of feelings and emotions is the most important goal of literature.
A. The mind can be characterized as having masculine and feminine aspects.
B. All great authors have come from economically privileged backgrounds.
C. There have been no truly great women writers in the past.
D. Artistic development is independent of formal education.
E. Investigation of feelings and emotions is the most important goal of literature.
3. The passage provides information to answer which of the following questions?
A. Why did Woolf write A Room of One’s Own as a lecture when in fact it was not?
B. Why did Woolf’s tone shift in Three Guineas as compared to A Room of One’s Own?
C. How did Woolf struggle against male prejudice in her writing career?
D. What conditions foster the development of the “androgynous mind”?
E. What were readers’ responses to the ideas in A Room of One’s Own?
A. Why did Woolf write A Room of One’s Own as a lecture when in fact it was not?
B. Why did Woolf’s tone shift in Three Guineas as compared to A Room of One’s Own?
C. How did Woolf struggle against male prejudice in her writing career?
D. What conditions foster the development of the “androgynous mind”?
E. What were readers’ responses to the ideas in A Room of One’s Own?
4. The author would state that, in comparison to her novels, Woolf’s essays on feminist themes could be regarded as more
A. original
B. familiar to the public
C. accepted by critics
D. artistically disciplined
E. blunt and direct
A. original
B. familiar to the public
C. accepted by critics
D. artistically disciplined
E. blunt and direct
5. It can inferred from the passage that A Room of One’s Own and Three Guineas are similar in which of the following respects?
I. Both discuss social issues in terms of artistic development.
II. Neither presents specific ways in which women can fight a maledominated society.
III. Both deal implicitly with the concerns of economically advantaged women.
A. I only
B. III only
C. I and II only
D. II and III only
E. I, II, and III
I. Both discuss social issues in terms of artistic development.
II. Neither presents specific ways in which women can fight a maledominated society.
III. Both deal implicitly with the concerns of economically advantaged women.
A. I only
B. III only
C. I and II only
D. II and III only
E. I, II, and III
6. Which of the following provides the most appropriate title for the passage?
A. Virginia Woolf: Pacifist Pioneer
B. The Genesis of Virginia Woolf’s Feminism
C. A Precursor of Modern Feminism
D. Virginia Woolf’s Marriage of Art and Politics: A Critical Evaluation
E. The Myth of Virginia Woolf’s Feminism
A. Virginia Woolf: Pacifist Pioneer
B. The Genesis of Virginia Woolf’s Feminism
C. A Precursor of Modern Feminism
D. Virginia Woolf’s Marriage of Art and Politics: A Critical Evaluation
E. The Myth of Virginia Woolf’s Feminism
Kaplan GRE Verbal Workbook 2007
08 Jul 2023, 02:48
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Official Explanation
6. Which of the following provides the most appropriate title for the passage?
Explanation
This is a special type of global question. A “best title” question asks you to identify the main theme of the passage, which is what a good title will focus on. Here, the last sentence of paragraph 1 states the theme: The essays are valuable because of their “anticipation . . . of contemporary feminism.” This idea is directly paraphrased in correct choice (C). Don’t worry that this choice doesn’t mention Woolf; it focuses squarely on what the author says about Woolf. The remainder of the passage surveys two aspects of Woolf’s feminism, both of which foreshadow present-day feminism, as paragraph 3 states directly and as the reference to Tillie Olsen in paragraph 2 suggests.
Choice (A) focuses on supporting detail—pacifism—a relatively minor issue in the passage.
Choice (B) is outside the scope of this passage. The genesis of Woolf’s ideas (in other words, how they originated) is not discussed.
Choice (D) is half right, half wrong. Although Virginia Woolf’s politics are evaluated, her novels, that is her art, are not discussed.
Choice (E) is too critical. Woolf’s feminism is taken seriously and is not criticized as a myth.
Answer: C
Explanation
This is a special type of global question. A “best title” question asks you to identify the main theme of the passage, which is what a good title will focus on. Here, the last sentence of paragraph 1 states the theme: The essays are valuable because of their “anticipation . . . of contemporary feminism.” This idea is directly paraphrased in correct choice (C). Don’t worry that this choice doesn’t mention Woolf; it focuses squarely on what the author says about Woolf. The remainder of the passage surveys two aspects of Woolf’s feminism, both of which foreshadow present-day feminism, as paragraph 3 states directly and as the reference to Tillie Olsen in paragraph 2 suggests.
Choice (A) focuses on supporting detail—pacifism—a relatively minor issue in the passage.
Choice (B) is outside the scope of this passage. The genesis of Woolf’s ideas (in other words, how they originated) is not discussed.
Choice (D) is half right, half wrong. Although Virginia Woolf’s politics are evaluated, her novels, that is her art, are not discussed.
Choice (E) is too critical. Woolf’s feminism is taken seriously and is not criticized as a myth.
Answer: C
02 Aug 2023, 09:49
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Official Explanation
2. Judging from the second paragraph, which of the following assumptions did Woolf make in the discussion of women writers?
Explanation
This is an inference question. According to paragraph 2, one goal of a woman writer is to develop an “androgynous mind,” one that has united “male” and “female” characteristics. Thus Woolf’s assumption is that there is a division of mental processes according to gender, one that is “transcended” by genius. The assumption in choice (A) is required for Woolf’s discussion to make sense.
Choice (B) makes an all-inclusive generalization that distorts Woolf’s emphasis on financial security; it implies that no great artists have come from lower-class backgrounds—a distortion of the idea that women writers must gain financial security.
Choice (C) is beyond the scope of the passage. That Woolf would think there has never been a great woman writer is implausible; paragraph (2) merely says that without financial independence, women are unlikely (not unable) to produce great art.
Choice (D) is contrary to Woolf’s argument; she is saying that education is needed for women to become great writers.
Choice (E) mistakes one goal of the “androgynous” mind (comprehending the feelings of both sexes) for the main goal of all literature.
Answer: A
Explanation
This is an inference question. According to paragraph 2, one goal of a woman writer is to develop an “androgynous mind,” one that has united “male” and “female” characteristics. Thus Woolf’s assumption is that there is a division of mental processes according to gender, one that is “transcended” by genius. The assumption in choice (A) is required for Woolf’s discussion to make sense.
Choice (B) makes an all-inclusive generalization that distorts Woolf’s emphasis on financial security; it implies that no great artists have come from lower-class backgrounds—a distortion of the idea that women writers must gain financial security.
Choice (C) is beyond the scope of the passage. That Woolf would think there has never been a great woman writer is implausible; paragraph (2) merely says that without financial independence, women are unlikely (not unable) to produce great art.
Choice (D) is contrary to Woolf’s argument; she is saying that education is needed for women to become great writers.
Choice (E) mistakes one goal of the “androgynous” mind (comprehending the feelings of both sexes) for the main goal of all literature.
Answer: A
