In Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park, an almost imperceptible smile from potential suitor Henry Crawford causes the protagonist Fanny Price...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
In Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park, an almost imperceptible smile from potential suitor Henry Crawford causes the protagonist Fanny Price to blush; her embarrassment grows when she suspects that he is aware of it. This moment—in which Fanny not only infers Henry's mental state through his gestures, but also infers that he is drawing inferences about her mental state—illustrates what literary scholar George Butte calls 'deep intersubjectivity,' a technique for representing interactions between consciousnesses through which Austen's novels derive much of their social and psychological drama.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
It states a claim about Austen's skill at representing psychological complexity that is reinforced by an example presented in the following sentence.
It advances an interpretation of an Austen protagonist who is contrasted with protagonists from other Austen novels cited in the following sentence.
It describes a recurring theme in Austen's novels that is the focus of a literary scholar's analysis summarized in the following sentence.
It provides a synopsis of an interaction in an Austen novel that illustrates a literary concept discussed in the following sentence.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'In Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park, an almost imperceptible smile from potential suitor Henry Crawford causes the protagonist Fanny Price to blush; her embarrassment grows when she suspects that he is aware of it.' |
|
| 'This moment—in which Fanny not only infers Henry's mental state through his gestures, but also infers that he is drawing inferences about her mental state—illustrates what literary scholar George Butte calls 'deep intersubjectivity,' a technique for representing interactions between consciousnesses through which Austen's novels derive much of their social and psychological drama.' |
|
Part B: Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: A specific moment from Mansfield Park exemplifies the literary technique of 'deep intersubjectivity' that creates much of the psychological drama in Austen's work.
Argument Flow: We start with a concrete scene—Henry's smile causing Fanny to blush and her awareness that he notices. This specific interaction then serves as evidence for a broader literary concept called 'deep intersubjectivity,' which the passage identifies as a key source of dramatic tension throughout Austen's novels.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
What's being asked? The function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole
What type of answer do we need? How the underlined sentence serves the passage's overall purpose
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- Looking at our passage map, the underlined sentence gives us a specific scene from Mansfield Park—Henry's smile, Fanny's blush, and her awareness of his awareness
- The following sentence then takes this concrete moment and uses it to illustrate a broader literary concept called 'deep intersubjectivity'
- So the right answer should explain that the underlined sentence provides a specific example or illustration that demonstrates a literary concept discussed afterward
It states a claim about Austen's skill at representing psychological complexity that is reinforced by an example presented in the following sentence.
✗ Incorrect
- Claims the underlined sentence states a claim that's reinforced by an example in the following sentence
- But the underlined sentence IS the example, not a claim being made
It advances an interpretation of an Austen protagonist who is contrasted with protagonists from other Austen novels cited in the following sentence.
✗ Incorrect
- Says it advances an interpretation and contrasts protagonists from different Austen novels
- No contrast between different protagonists is mentioned
It describes a recurring theme in Austen's novels that is the focus of a literary scholar's analysis summarized in the following sentence.
✗ Incorrect
- Claims it describes a recurring theme that's analyzed by a scholar
- But it doesn't describe a theme—it gives one specific moment
It provides a synopsis of an interaction in an Austen novel that illustrates a literary concept discussed in the following sentence.
✓ Correct
- States it provides a synopsis of an interaction that illustrates a literary concept discussed afterward
- This perfectly matches our analysis: the underlined sentence gives the specific Henry-Fanny interaction, and the following sentence explains how this demonstrates 'deep intersubjectivity'