Text 1 The prominent mirror imagery throughout Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" serves as a representation of the protagonist's...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Text 1
The prominent mirror imagery throughout Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" serves as a representation of the protagonist's fractured sense of identity, scholar Maya Chen contends in her 2019 analysis. Chen's interpretation draws from textual evidence including the protagonist's descriptions of "strange reflections" and her tendency to see "distorted images" in various reflective surfaces that appear in the narrative.
Text 2
Critic David Rodriguez takes a different view of these reflective elements, positioning them as symbols of social constraint rather than personal identity. The wallpaper pattern itself—featuring "bars" and "prison-like designs"—dominates the story's symbolic landscape and provides the most direct representation of the protagonist's psychological state, Rodriguez contends. This central element's prominence throughout the text, combined with its explicit connection to the character's mental deterioration, makes it a more convincing symbolic framework than the mirror motif.
Based on the texts, how would Rodriguez most likely respond to Chen's interpretation, as presented in Text 1?
By contending that it overlooks the significance of the wallpaper imagery that dominates the narrative
By questioning whether "strange reflections" and "distorted images" actually appear in the original text
By agreeing that mirrors effectively demonstrate the connection between symbolism and character psychology
By suggesting that it accurately identifies the most prevalent symbolic pattern in Gilman's work
TASK: Format Solution with Surgical Precision
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| Text 1: "The prominent mirror imagery throughout Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper' serves as a representation of the protagonist's fractured sense of identity, scholar Maya Chen contends in her 2019 analysis." |
|
| "Chen's interpretation draws from textual evidence including the protagonist's descriptions of 'strange reflections' and her tendency to see 'distorted images' in various reflective surfaces that appear in the narrative." |
|
| Text 2: "Critic David Rodriguez takes a different view of these reflective elements, positioning them as symbols of social constraint rather than personal identity." |
|
| "The wallpaper pattern itself—featuring 'bars' and 'prison-like designs'—dominates the story's symbolic landscape and provides the most direct representation of the protagonist's psychological state, Rodriguez contends." |
|
| "This central element's prominence throughout the text, combined with its explicit connection to the character's mental deterioration, makes it a more convincing symbolic framework than the mirror motif." |
|
Part B: Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Two literary scholars disagree about which symbolic element—mirrors or wallpaper—provides the most significant representation of the protagonist's psychological state in "The Yellow Wallpaper."
Argument Flow: Chen presents her mirror-based interpretation with textual evidence, then Rodriguez counters by arguing that wallpaper imagery is more prominent and convincing than the mirror motif Chen emphasizes.
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
- Based on our analysis, Rodriguez believes the wallpaper pattern "dominates the story's symbolic landscape" and provides a "more convincing symbolic framework than the mirror motif"
- He's essentially arguing that Chen is focusing on the wrong symbolic element
- Rodriguez would likely criticize Chen's interpretation for overlooking what he sees as the more significant and prominent wallpaper imagery that appears throughout the text
- So the right answer should show Rodriguez pointing out that Chen's focus on mirrors misses the more dominant wallpaper symbolism
By contending that it overlooks the significance of the wallpaper imagery that dominates the narrative
✓ Correct
- Matches Rodriguez's core argument that wallpaper imagery "dominates the story's symbolic landscape" and aligns with his conclusion that wallpaper is "more convincing" than mirror imagery
By questioning whether "strange reflections" and "distorted images" actually appear in the original text
✗ Incorrect
- Rodriguez doesn't question the existence of the textual evidence Chen cites; his disagreement is about interpretation and significance, not about factual accuracy
By agreeing that mirrors effectively demonstrate the connection between symbolism and character psychology
✗ Incorrect
- Rodriguez fundamentally disagrees with Chen's approach, not agrees with it; he argues for wallpaper symbolism over mirror symbolism
By suggesting that it accurately identifies the most prevalent symbolic pattern in Gilman's work
✗ Incorrect
- Rodriguez argues wallpaper patterns, not mirror patterns, are most prevalent; this misrepresents Rodriguez's position about which symbolic element dominates