1. If the author of passage A were to read passage B, he or she would be most likely to agree with which one of the following?(A) Though Cather preferred to call Death Comes for the Archbishop a narrative rather than a novel, she would be unlikely to view most of her other novels in the same way.
(B) The critics who questioned Cather’s abilities as a novelist focused mostly on her failed experiments and ignored her more aesthetically successful novels.
(C) A model of criticism that takes narrative rather than the novel as its object is likely to result in flawed interpretations of Cather’s work.
(D) Critics who questioned Cather’s abilities as a novelist fail to perceive the extent to which Cather actually embraced the conventions of the realistic novel.
(E) Cather’s goal of representing the “thing not named” explains her preference for the bold, simple, and stylized in the presentation of character.
2. Passage B indicates which one of the following?(A) Narratologists point to Cather’s works as prime examples of pure narrative.
(B) Cather disliked the work of many of the novelists who preceded her.
(C) Cather regarded at least one of her works as not fitting straightforwardly into the category of the novel.
(D) Cather’s unusual treatment of narrative time was influenced by the Russian writers Turgenev and Tolstoy.
(E) Cather’s work was regarded as flawed by most contemporary critics.
3. It can be inferred that both authors would be most likely to regard which one of the following as exemplifying Cather’s narrative technique?(A) A meticulous inventory of the elegant furniture and décor in a character’s living room is used to indicate that the character is wealthy.
(B) An account of a character’s emotional scars is used to explain the negative effects the character has on his family.
(C) A description of a slightly quivering drink in the hand of a character at a dinner party is used to suggest that the character is timid.
(D) A chronological summary of the events that spark a family conflict is used to supply the context for an in-depth narration of that conflict.
(E) A detailed narration of an unprovoked act of violence and the reprisals it triggers is used to portray the theme that violence begets violence.
4. Which one of the following most accurately states the main point of passage B?(A) Cather’s fiction is best approached by focusing purely on narrative, rather than on the formal characteristics of the novel.
(B) Most commentators on Cather’s novels have mistakenly treated her distinctive narrative techniques as aesthetic flaws.
(C) Cather intentionally avoided the realistic psychological characterization that is the central feature of the modern Western novel.
(D) Cather’s impressionistic narratives served as an important impetus for the development of narratology in the 1960s.
(E) Cather rejected the narrative constraints of the realistic novel and instead concentrated on portraying her characters by sketching their inner lives.
5. It is most likely that the authors of the two passages would both agree with which one of the following statements?(A) More than her contemporaries, Cather used stream-of-consciousness narration to portray her characters.
(B) Cather’s works were not intended as novels, but rather as narratives.
(C) Narratology is the most appropriate critical approach to Cather’s work.
(D) Cather’s technique of evoking the “thing not named” had a marked influence on later novelists.
(E) Cather used impressionistic narrative techniques to portray the psychology of her characters.
6. Both authors would be likely to agree that which one of the following, though typical of many novels, would NOT be found in Cather’s work?(A) Description of the salient features of the setting, such as a chair in which a character often sits.
(B) A plot that does not follow chronological time, but rather moves frequently between the novel’s past and present.
(C) Description of a character’s physical appearance, dress, and facial expressions.
(D) Direct representation of dialogue between the novel’s characters, using quotation marks to set off characters’ words.
(E) A narration of a character’s inner thoughts, including an account of the character’s anxieties and wishes.
7. A central purpose of each passage is to(A) describe the primary influences on Cather’s work
(B) identify some of the distinctive characteristics of Cather’s work
(C) explain the critical reception Cather’s work received in her lifetime
(D) compare Cather’s novels to the archetypal form of the realistic novel
(E) examine the impact of European literature and literary theory on Cather’s work