Passage- 536 words

A GMAT VENTURE

Romantic ideology has descended to us, says McGann, largely through the lines of thought that have developed from Coleridge and Hegel (the German ideology). But while the Romantic ideology of 1789 to 1824 was articulated, to a large extent, by poets skeptical of many of its features, this ambivalence and self-consciousness largely disappears in the debased forms of Romantic ideology we encounter today. McGann censures his own 1968 study, Fiery Dust: Byron's Poetic Development, because of its absorption in Romanticism's self-representations and its presumption of the poet's linear development (a biographic teleology that cripples much critical thinking about art). The uncritical acceptance of Romantic ideology, however, poses problems for more than the study of Romanticism. The effect is all the more disastrous when, institutionally reified, this ideology continues to be the basis for the reception of postRomantic poetry by an influential segment of what McGann calls the clerisy, that is, literary academia. In this light, the grotesque, yet systematic, misjudgments about twentieth century poetry by a critic of Romanticism such as Harold Bloom become more understandable, if no less excusable. MGann's sometimes humorous selfconsciousness, true to his own didactic intentions, specifically keeps the focus on "that narrowest and most cloistered of spheres...the critical work produced by the literary academy" . It would be a mistake to ignore the pervasiveness of the same debased Romantic ideology as it informs much contemporary American poetry. Indeed, a broad range of seemingly antagonistic tendencies in current writing share a conception of poetry as giving a "voice" to unmediated "basic truths" of "imagination" and "feeling" through "direct expression" of human "creativity"; they also share an allergic reaction to any intimation, in a poem, of intellectual or ideological selfconsciousness. Absorption in Romanticism's self- representations, then, is not only a problem for critics; it is also a problem for poetry. This is the kind of reciprocal interaction in our own time that McGann sees as central to understanding the ideological context and reception of past and present literature. I take McGann's various explications of Romantic ideology to be provisional, that is, a stage in the development of an historical criticism informed as much by the contemporary ideological climate as by Romantic "texts." While McGann rejects Ren Wellek's view that there is a basic unity underlying the various manifestations of Romanticism, he does not quite adopt Lovejoy's skepticism Romanticisms not Romanticism. The first step in breaking from the spell of a unified Romanticism is to recognize its particular and parochial ideological formations. McGann notes the fundamentally Christian character of the Romanticism formulated by Coleridge and formalized by Hegel. It is not surprising, then, that Heine a poet inclined to consciously resist absorption in Christian Romanticism would write a work McGann

finds paradigmatic for historical criticism, The Romantic School. Heine "writes between 1833 and 1835 as an expatriate German Jew to a French intellectual audience about a cultural phenomenon, German Romanticism, which is now historically concluded At every point Heine is concerned with the problem of the immediate relevance of removed cultural resources in this case, German Romantic literary works. He is qualified to take up this problematic matter because he contains in himself, as it were, a crucial division of sympathies and knowledge"

Q1. The romantic ideology nowadays seems to lack all the following characteristics except 1. An ability to criticize itself. 2. A distinct hesitation about its presumptions. 3. An attitude of self- consciousness which can lead to introspection. 4. A positive belief and absorption into the tenets of romanticism. 5. Both 1 and 2.

1.4 From the first paragraph one can infer that ambivalence or hesitation as also self consciousness- which facilitated self-criticism in the earlier days is lacking nowadays. So option 1, 2 and 3 are lacking. Option 4 seems to be the trend of the modern times. In fact it is this positive belief and absorption- which is opposite of ambivalence which is criticized by McGann. Option 4 is the best available choice.

Q.2. Which of the following is in line with McGanns approach of handling Romanticism ? 1. Giving support to extreme viewpoints. 2. Seeing all elements of Romantic ideology as being united in essence. 3. Rejecting those theories of Romanticism which have evolved from particular contexts. 4. Viewing his explications of Romantic ideology as provisional. 5. Viewing the fundamentally Christian character of Romanticism with circumspection.

2.5 Refer to the last paragraph. From the 2nd line it can be inferred that Mc.Gann does not support extreme viewpoints. Option 2 is rejected in the same line by McGann. Option 3 is incorrect. Infact Mc Gann advocates recognizing paraochial ideological formulations. Option 4 is the authors view and not Mc Ganns. Option 5 in line with Mc Ganns approach of skepticism or circumspection. Option 5 is adopted by Heine and Mc Gann supports his work.

Q 3. The primary purpose of the passage is to 1. Purport that Romantic ideology does not have a sound basis. 2. Show that the uncritical acceptance of Romantic ideology results in problems. 3. Argue that the present conception of Romantic ideology is provisional. 4. Challenge the debased Romantic ideology which informs present poetry. 5. Illustrate how a pristine ideology can become impure by acceptance.

3.2 The author is trying to show that uncritical acceptance of the presumptions of Romanticism results in problems as the ideology becomes debased and this debased ideology starts permeating or informing other branches like poetry . Option 1 is partly correct but not the main purpose.Option 3 is not the main argument of the author. Option 4 is again incorrect as the author is not only challenging the debased Romantic ideology but showing that the reason for this is uncritical acceptance of it. Also he is talking about the problems resulting from it. Option 5 is partly true but it is also general and exaggerated. The author does not call the ideology- pristine.

Q.4. It can be inferred that the uncritical acceptance of Romantic ideology results in 1. American poetry going through a phase of self-criticism. 2. The conception of poetry with a contempt for intellectual self-consciousness. 3. Antagonistic tendencies which favour constructive criticism of poetry. 4. Rejection of debased Romantic ideology by American poetry. 5. Poets looking down on the debased Romantic ideology.

4.2 Option 2 can be inferred from the last para which talks of Antagonistic tendencies in poetry developing an allergic reaction to intellectual self-consciousness. Options 1 and 4 are not indicated in the passage. In fact the debased Romantic ideology is seen to inform American Poetry rather than being rejected by it. Option 3 is also not seen to be happening. The antagonistic tendencies favour acceptance rather than moving into constructive criticism. Option 5 is not fully substantiated by the passage. It requires more data.

5. Heine in the last paragraph is trying to 1. Search for German literary works. 2. Generate skepticism in the far removed Sources of German Romanticism. 3. Validate the existence of far removed sources of German Romanticism. 4. Make amends for being expatriated from France. 5. Display his dual skills of knowledge and compassion. 5.2 Heine in the last para is in line with Mc Ganns approach. He is questioning the immediate relevance of far-removed texts or the source texts which were considered the main influences in German Romanticism. So like Mc Gann- he is generating skepticism which would lead to criticism. Options 1 and 3 are incorrect and differ from the purport of the last paragraph. Options 4 and 5miss the point and are exaggerated.

Passage 2

As has been pointed out by Browne and many others, Wallace envisioned a selection process operating at the group level, and producing new populations derived from varieties characterized by distinct adaptive suites. Browne notes that Wallace was thinking in terms of statistical generalizations; at least one verification of this surmise appears in the rules for systematic revision (multiple character trait-based analysis, etc.) he was applying at the time. If single characters were untrustworthy distinguishers of species from one another taxonomically, neither were they likely to mirror the only relevant population-dividing forces. Suites of peculiarities defined species. In "The Origin of Species and Genera" in 1880 Wallace later discussed this as follows:

From the fact of variation, so extensive as regards the number of variable characters and so large in absolute amount as has now been proved to exist in many species, we may fairly draw the conclusion that analogous variation, sometimes of less and sometimes of greater extent, is a general characteristic of animals in a state of nature; and with such materials to work with it becomes easy to understand how new species may arise. For example, the peculiar physical or organic conditions that render one part of the area occupied by a species better adapted to an extreme variety may become intensified. The most extreme variations in this direction will then have the advantage, and will multiply at the expense of the rest. If this change of condition should extend over the whole area occupied by the species, this one extreme form will replace all the others; while, if the area should be cut in two by subsidence or elevation, the conditions of the two portions may be modified in opposite directions, each becoming adapted to one extreme form. The original type of the species will then have become extinct, being replaced by two species, each distinguished by a combination of certain extreme characters which had before existed in some of its varieties. The changes of conditions which lead to such selection of varieties are very diverse in their nature; and new species may thus be formed diverging in many ways from the parent stock. The climate may change from moist to dry, or the reverse, or the temperature may increase or diminish during long periods, in either case requiring some corresponding change of constitution, of covering, of vegetable or of insect food--to be met by the selection of variations of colour or of swiftness, of length of bill, or of strength of claws. Again, competitors or enemies may arrive from other countries, giving the advantage to such varieties as can change their food, or by swifter flight or greater wariness can escape their new foes. In this way several series of changes may occur, each brought about by the pressure of changed conditions; and thus what was before a single species may become transformed into a group of allied species, differing from each other in a number of slight characters, just as we find them in nature.

Q1. Which of the following is true according to the author 1. Conditions necessary for adaptation for a particular species can intensify. 2. An area adapted by a particular species can divide into two creating variation in the characteristics of the species. 3. Competitors from other countries do not affect the phenomenon of variation. 4. A single species cannot become transformed into more than two species. 5. None of the above.

1. 5 Options 1 to 4 are entirely the views of Wallace and not the author. So nothing can be said about them. So the best option is option 5.

Q2. The numerous variations in the species in nature can be chiefly attributed to 1. The tendency of a species to adapt to the environment in which it lives. 2. The intelligence inherent in species which drives them on to survive even in face of competitors. 3. The tendency in species to adapt to a number of conditions at one time rather than just one or two conditions. 4. The change in the conditions in nature which are diverse. 5. The pressure of natural conditions which forces species to develop variations to survive. 2.4 The question is asking about not just the reason for variations but the reason for the numerous variations in species. Option 1 is definitely a reason for the variation but it does not explain the reason for the numerous variations. Option 2 is too specific an answer. Option 3 cannot be inferred from the passage. The passage nowhere says that species cannot adapt to just one or two conditions. Option 5 talks about the pressure of natural condition. But unless the conditions change and this change is diverse there would be no pressure created to adapt and develop numerous variations. Option 4 answers the question. The chief reason for the numerous variations is that the changes in natural conditions which create pressure on species to adapt-------are diverse . Hence the variations are numerous. Q.3. Which of the following would be true if the peculiar physical or organic conditions that render one part of the area occupied by a species better adapted to an extreme variety become intensified? 1. The original species would become extinct. 2. Two or more new species would get formed from the original species. 3. Variations in the direction of the extreme variety would have an advantage. 4. Variations in a direction away from the extreme variety would be protected by the extreme variety. 5. The extreme variety would replace all the other forms in the other parts of the area occupied by the species. 3.3 Refer to the 2nd paragraph. Options 1,2 and 5 represent possibilities which depend on other conditions or assumptions. Option 4 is not indicated in the passage. Option 3 is a definite outcome of the intensified conditions. Refer to line 7, para 2.

Passage 3-(427 words) For some strange reason, writes Cardan , Marxists have always seen the achievement of working class power solely in terms of the conquest of political power. Real power, namely power over production in day-to-day life, was always ignored. This vitiation of Marxs philosophy of liberation is but prelude to the hammer and tongs approach to Lenin who, Cardan claims, was relentlessly repeating from 1917 until his death that production should be organised from above along state-capitalist lines. I know of no greater lie, but, for the time being, we will let it stand in order to call attention to the foundation for the diatribe. As proof of the slanderous statement, Cardan quotes from one of Lenins speeches. The Immediate Tasks of the Soviet Government and then only those passages which relate to the possibility of utilizing the Taylor system. Never mind that the Taylor system was never introduced in Lenins lifetime. Never mind that the single will was not a reference to foremen or managers of production. The point of contention in that first year of revolution when the discussion revolved around single vs collective referred to parallelism in organisations since the first national trade union organisation arose only after the revolution, just when factory committees and Soviets likewise laid sole claim to running production. Never mind the objective situation, the backwardness of the economy, four years of imperialist war, civil war and countless counter-revolutionary attacks which were still going on as the new workers state was struggling for its very existence That speech was made when the state was but four months old. The references to single will and iron discipline are sufficient basis for Cardan to conclude: We believe these conceptions, this subjective factor, played an enormous role in the degeneration of the Russian Revolution we can see today the relationship between the views he held and the later reality of Stalinism.

Cardan is standing everything on its head. No subjective factor could ever have produced an objective situation the new stage of capitalism. State-capitalism first arose during the world Depression, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, assumed its most mature form in Russia during the Five Year Plans and Stalins most notorious Moscow Frame-up Trials. Were we to acquiesce to anything so foolish that a single article could sum up a period covering the greatest proletarian revolution in history, would it not be incumbent on the analyst to consider that article in its entirety? That speech consisted of more, a great deal more, than the passages singled out for quotation.

Q1. The author would agree with which of the following statements ? 1. Lenin was against giving power to the workers over production. 2. The Taylor system was never introduced in Russias factories. 3. Cardan believed that Lenin was fundamentally a Marxist. 4. Lenin wanted the organization of production to be based on a certain philosophy . 5. Stalin was significantly influenced by Lenin.

1.5 Option 1 cannot be inferred as the meaning of Lenins statements or the single directive is interpreted by the author as making organizations parallel. Option 1 is Cardans view which is being refuted by the author. Option 2 cannot be concluded as the author mentions that the Taylor system was not introduced during Lenins lifetime. It could have been introduced later. Option 3 again is not indicated or implied in the passage. Option 5 is again Cardans view which is being refuted by the author in the second last para. Option 4 is something to which the author would agree as he refutes Cardans argument by interpreting the meaning of Lenins statement as Organizations should be parallel or Organized in a similar fashion.

2. The author primarily uses which of the following to disprove Cardans views ? A. Showing that Lenins comments have been distorted from their actual meaning. B. Drawing attention to and discussing the other comments made by Lenin in the same article. C. Using factual data to de-link the cause and effect linked by Cardan.

D. Describing how subjective factors cannot produce objective outcomes.

1. A and C

2. A,B and C

3. C and D

4. A, C and D

5. A, B ,C and D.

2.1 Option 1 is correct. Statement A is what the author mainly tries to indicate as the flaw in Cardans reasoning. The terms parallel organizations and discipline etc carried a different meaning when seen in a particular context-- when the state was four months old. The terms when taken for their literal meaning lead to Cardans incorrect interpretation. Statement C is also correct as factual data is used by the author to delink cause and effect. For eg. The subjective-objective connection is delinked by the author in the 2nd last para by pointing to where capitalism originated. B and D are only referred to by the author and neither discussed nor described. 3. Which of the following best describes the authors attitude towards Cardans views? 1. Frustrated 2. Argumentative 3. Dismissive 4. Questioning 5. Regretful

3.3 The author is totally denouncing or dismissing Cardans views. He calls it a lie and also calls it foolish. The tone is extreme. The author does not appear frustrated but seems quite clear that Cardans views are foolish. Argumentative is the method used by the author and not his attitude. Questioning is a mild tone wheares the authors tone is extreme here.The author is not regretful of anything here- regret is normally felt for ones own wrong actions. Dismissive is appropriate here as the author is totally dismissing Cardans views.

Passage 4: 480 words

Samson & Delilah, the Cannes-selected breakthrough feature of writer/director Warwick Thornton, follows the gradual partnership of two indigenous teenagers who live in a small impoverished rural community outside Alice Springs. It is a film of slow and menacing beauty, phlegmatically unravelled with painfully authentic performances delivered in front of vast and vacuous backdrops soaked up like a sponge by Thorntons wide and searching lens. It is a stunning achievement and one of the least sentimental boy-meets-girl films you will ever see, period. The first shot is a harbinger of things to come a long and steady take depicting

Samsons (Rowan McNamara) morning ritual of waking up, reaching for his trusty tin and taking a long, deep whiff of petrol. On this uneasy note the films harsh but seductive mood begins. In opening scenes romantic chemistry between 15-year-old Samson and 16-year-old Delilah (Marissa Gibson) consists largely of the characters throwing rocks at each other, but give it time and a close affinity between themselves and the audience develops. Samson lives near a trio of reticent musicians who endlessly rehearse a handful of simple riffs, more out of routine than pleasure, and Delilah cares for her elderly grandmother - a wizened, giggly old gal who spots romance well before it blossoms. Our protagonists seem drawn to each other organically, their partnership presented as a natural progression born more of necessity than desire. Eventually they will leave their isolated community and venture to the big smoke, and this is when the film really takes off, the second half carrying a heaviness built on top of the commonplace details illustrated in the first. Beautiful, heartbreaking and technically proficient, Samson & Delilah is the cinematic event many Australians have waited decades to see: an extraordinarily powerful picture that frames the debate about Aboriginal living standards in an intensely personal context, without loading up on cheap shocks or political didacticism. The title characters build enormous screen presence despite very little dialogue and few moments of overt emotion; they are stolid personalities the audience come to understand over time. Rowan McNamara and Marissa Gibson appear naturalistic and effortless and their acting unconsciously nuanced. Together they create the kind of painfully real performances that has critics, for a good reason, choking themselves on superlatives. In addition the handful of ensemble cast are a memorable bunch: Delilahs Grandma and a friendly hobo who goes by the name of Gonzo bring a little humour and light to the story, though some audiences will inevitably describe it as too much of a downer.

1. The unraveling of the movie Samson and Delilah is best described by which of the following 1. The unraveling occurs in a sentimental mode. 2. The unraveling is stoic in its treatment. 3. The unraveling has cruel undertones to it. 4. The unraveling is meant to cause pain to the audience. 5.The unraveling goes against the expectations of the audience.

1.2 Phlegmatically unraveling as well as the harsh treatment of the film make it explicit that the unraveling is non-sentimental and stoic. Option 1 is incorrect. Option 3 becomes excessive as a harsh/stoic treatment does not mean cruel undertones. Options 4 and 5 are talking about the effect of the unraveling on the audience not how the unraveling is actually done .

2. What according to the author is most remarkable about the movie Samson and Delilah? 1. Portraying love as an organic progression rather than a desire. 2. Portraying aboriginal living standards in a personal context. 3. Clearly highlighting the fact that aboriginal living standards need to be improved. 4. Portraying love between two characters without much display of overt emotion. 5. Portraying love without getting involved in political rhetoric.

2.2 Option 1 is part of the movie but not a remarkable thing. Option 3 is not explicit in the passage. Option 4 is true. But it leaves out the context . Option 5 distorts what is given. The remarkable aspect is portraying aboriginal living standards through personal love without taking resort to political didactism. Hence option 2 scores as the best option.

Q.3. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage ? 1. Real characters are those characters which are portrayed without resorting to overt emotions. 2. The title characters in the movie must have gone through a lot of pain while enacting their roles 3. The audience does not want to see what is painfully real and feels let down. 4. The critics lauded the film because they felt choked with emotion and pain. 5. The film got due credit for creating a realistic feel which also touched many viewers. 3.5 Option 1 generalizes the meaning of real characters from the specific context. By real, what is meant is that which is close to the actual real life situation and not those without overt emotion. Option 2 cannot be inferred as nothing has been said mentioned about the experience of the characters. By painful the author is referring to his and the viewers experience of the movie. Also painful with reference to acting would mean a role which demands effort and not literal pain. From the last line of the passage, it is given that some audiences will describe the film or its humour as a downer. We cannot extend this to the whole audience. Option 4 again distorts things. The critics choked on superlatives and not on pain and emotion. Option 5 can be clearly inferred as the author emphasizes the real characters and also its effect on audience and critics.