While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:Art historians recognize that artistic movements frequently evolve and transform...
GMAT Expression of Ideas : (Expression) Questions
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Art historians recognize that artistic movements frequently evolve and transform over time.
- The Impressionist movement of the late 19th century exemplifies this pattern of change.
- Claude Monet's early works from the 1860s focused primarily on realistic landscape representation.
- His later paintings from the 1890s and beyond emphasized light, atmosphere, and abstract color relationships.
- Monet's artistic evolution reflects broader shifts within Impressionism toward more experimental approaches.
The student wants to make and support a generalization about artistic movements. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Artistic movements transform over time: Claude Monet's evolution from realistic landscape representation in the 1860s to abstract color relationships in his later works demonstrates this pattern within Impressionism.
Art historians recognize that artistic movements frequently evolve, and movements like Impressionism may change over time.
Claude Monet exemplifies artistic evolution, as his early works from the 1860s focused on realistic landscapes while his later paintings emphasized light, atmosphere, and abstract color relationships.
Like other Impressionist artists, Claude Monet created works that focused on landscape representation and emphasized experimental approaches.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Art historians recognize that artistic movements frequently evolve and transform over time." |
|
| "The Impressionist movement of the late 19th century exemplifies this pattern of change." |
|
| "Claude Monet's early works from the 1860s focused primarily on realistic landscape representation." |
|
| "His later paintings from the 1890s and beyond emphasized light, atmosphere, and abstract color relationships." |
|
| "Monet's artistic evolution reflects broader shifts within Impressionism toward more experimental approaches." |
|
Provide Passage Architecture
Main Point: Artistic movements transform over time, as demonstrated by the evolution within Impressionism, particularly through Claude Monet's progression from realistic representation to experimental approaches.
Argument Flow: The notes establish a general scholarly principle about artistic movements evolving, then use Impressionism as a case study. Within that movement, Monet's individual transformation from realistic landscapes to abstract experimentation serves as concrete evidence, with his evolution representing the broader shift toward experimental approaches within the entire movement.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The correct choice needs to accomplish the student's goal effectively, which means it must:
- Make a clear, broad generalization about artistic movements
- Support that generalization with specific, relevant evidence from the research notes
- Use the evidence in a way that actually demonstrates the generalization.
- Looking at our notes, the natural generalization would be about how artistic movements transform over time. The strongest supporting evidence would be Monet's specific evolution from realistic landscapes in the 1860s to abstract approaches in the 1890s+.
Artistic movements transform over time: Claude Monet's evolution from realistic landscape representation in the 1860s to abstract color relationships in his later works demonstrates this pattern within Impressionism.
✓ Correct
- Makes a clear generalization about all artistic movements transforming over time and supports this with specific evidence from the notes about Monet's evolution from realistic landscape representation in the 1860s to abstract color relationships in his later works. Accomplishes both parts of the student's goal perfectly.
Art historians recognize that artistic movements frequently evolve, and movements like Impressionism may change over time.
✗ Incorrect
- Simply restates what art historians recognize without adding supporting evidence. Fails to use Monet's specific evolution as evidence to strengthen the generalization.
Claude Monet exemplifies artistic evolution, as his early works from the 1860s focused on realistic landscapes while his later paintings emphasized light, atmosphere, and abstract color relationships.
✗ Incorrect
- Focuses specifically on Monet rather than making a broader generalization about artistic movements. Describes individual artistic evolution rather than movement-wide patterns.
Like other Impressionist artists, Claude Monet created works that focused on landscape representation and emphasized experimental approaches.
✗ Incorrect
- Mentions other Impressionist artists without providing any information about them from the notes. Doesn't make a clear generalization about artistic movements in general.