PrepTest 113, Section 1, Question 19
Published in 1952, Invisible Man featured a protagonist(439 more words not shown)
It can be inferred from(21 more words not shown)
- AAudiences respond more(8 more words not shown)
- BGroundless criticism of(11 more words not shown)
- CAudiences have the(10 more words not shown)
- DThe most conscientious(17 more words not shown)
- EMost audience members(13 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Audiences weren't the main focus, so return to where they appear: the end of Ellison's reply. It calls the belief that audiences can see only from their own perspectives a narrow assumption. Be careful whose view that is. Ellison is rejecting the limitation, not endorsing it.
What we’re looking for
I'd predict that readers can put themselves in someone else's position. They needn't share a character's background to understand a perspective different from their own.
Working the answers
- A
This compares how favorably people respond to political and nonpolitical art. Ellison doesn't make that comparison. His objection to prescribing an artist's purpose doesn't establish audiences' preferences.
- B
Nothing explains how criticism affects audiences' reception of a work. The discussion concerns what the criticism assumes about them.
- CCorrect
Empathy is the ability to understand a perspective beyond one's own. That fits Ellison's rejection of the idea that audiences are capable of viewing the world “only from their own perspectives.” I might hesitate at appreciating art because our prediction was about understanding other people. But the context is artists expressing the world and audiences receiving that expression. C makes that connection; it doesn't add an unrelated claim about popularity.
- D
We aren't told which audience members are most conscientious or how that relates to knowing artistic techniques.
- E
This attributes the restrictive assumption to the person criticizing it. Ellison argues against treating cultural background as a boundary on an audience's perspective. E also adds a claim about most audience members that isn't established.
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