In the twelfth century the stained glass windows of cathedrals were pe

Question

In the twelfth century the stained glass windows of cathedrals were perceived less as works of art than as chronicles of the ordinary lives of the townspeople. Like modern magazines, they related stories of important events, depicted prominent citizens in the community, and functioned as a record to preserve events for later generations.

The author of this passage makes her point by

(A) comparing something foreign with something more familiar to her readers
(B) citing examples to refute an opposing conclusion
(C) stating her opinion and explaining why she holds it
(D) expressing as fact something that is merely an opinion
(E) reducing art to its function as a means of communication

ElninoEffect · Answer

(A) comparing something foreign with something more familiar to her readers
 We don't know what is foreign and what is familiar as nothing has been stated as such, also here an analogy has been drawn through comparison. 
(B) citing examples to refute an opposing conclusion
 We are not opposing anything here. 
(C) stating her opinion and explaining why she holds it
 It's not her opinion but a general consensus of that time. 
(D) expressing as fact something that is merely an opinion
 A fact is backed by the evidence which I think is missing here, also the author has merely drawn an analogy not trying to prove something as fact or not. 
(E) reducing art to its function as a means of communication
 Yup, as it is evident through the example author has given.

RiyaJain69 · Answer

The official answer is A. I am confused why A is the correct answer and not C or E. I think both C and E can be the correct answers.

Solenja · Answer

looking at the answer choices at first i was also struck in the last option but after while it got to me why it is not the first choice.
May be it is of taking a complete different aspect of society and mixing with another opposite aspect of the society which was never done before in the passage might lead to the wordings as "foriegn".
this might be the reason why it must have been option A or may be i am assuming it in that way, i don't know. Correct me if im wrong.
Thanks.

Haffun · Answer

Please help between A and E. The passage itself has talked about the function of art. Does that mean the art was already known for its function and the author merely gave a similar example from the current time. But magazines are no art.

Carcass · Answer

In the twelfth century  the stained glass  windows of cathedrals were perceived less as works of art than  as chronicles of the ordinary lives  of the townspeople.  Like modern magazines ,  they related stories of important events , depicted prominent citizens in the community, and functioned as a record to preserve events for later generations.

(A) comparing something foreign with something more familiar to her readers

something in the past similar to what we do nowadays.

(E)  reducing art to its function as a means of communication

Nothing in the stem suggests a tool or way or means to communicate something. There is a comparison.

Hope this helps

Please check your connection. do not make multiple , equal alike, replies

Haffun · Answer

Thank you. Yes, I had a connection issue. I have deleted the duplicate posts. Sorry for that.

What I do not understand here is the word 'foreign' used for the stained glass. It could be ancient but commonly known.

Carcass · Answer

in this context foreign= not known

They actually made the second example of the magazine to show us that in the past centuries, something similar had been done with the glasses in the cathedrals.

Those glasses were the magazines of the time

kartickdey · Answer

Please provide the official explanation for this Question

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hi kartickdey

This is not the official explanation but might work.

First break down the premise into pieces:

-It describes how stained glass windows in the 12th century were seen less as art and more as chronicles of ordinary life.
- Then it says:  Like modern magazines, they told stories of events, depicted prominent citizens, and preserved events for later generations.
- Method used:  she compares stained glass windows (possibly unfamiliar historical object/function to readers) to modern magazines (familiar to readers) to explain their role.

(A)  matches and is correct!

(B)  No opposing view is mentioned.

(C)  She is stating a historical perception, not mainly her opinion.

(D)  maybe, but the main rhetorical method is the comparison, not that subtle trick.

(E)  that is the content of her point, not the method she uses to make it.

Answer: A

celialem · Answer

Is there a possibility to provide an official explanation for this question? 
I was stuck between A and E, but ultimately chose E because of the word "foreign" in the answer choice. I don't think the author drew the analogy of magazines because stained glass windows were a foreign concept to the readers, but rather to show why they were used, i.e. as a form of communication. This prompted me to think that the author does indeed want the readers to not look at the art as "art" but as a tool for communication, hence REDUCING the art to its function as a means of communication.

Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here.

In the twelfth century the stained glass windows of cathedrals were pe

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In the twelfth century the stained glass windows of cathedrals were pe

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