While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:Literary scholars have developed different approaches to interpreting modernist poe...
GMAT Expression of Ideas : (Expression) Questions
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
Literary scholars have developed different approaches to interpreting modernist poetry. Formalist critics focus primarily on analyzing the internal structure, language patterns, and literary devices within poems themselves. This approach dominated academic poetry analysis from the 1940s through the 1960s. Historical critics examine how poems reflect the social, political, and cultural circumstances of the time period in which they were written. This approach gained prominence during the 1970s as scholars sought to understand literature within broader historical contexts.
The student wants to emphasize a difference between formalist and historical approaches to poetry criticism. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Formalist critics analyze internal poetic elements like structure and language, while historical critics examine how poems reflect their social and political contexts.
Literary scholars have developed various approaches to interpreting modernist poetry, including both formalist and historical methods.
Formalist criticism dominated from the 1940s through 1960s; historical criticism gained prominence during the 1970s.
Both formalist and historical critics contribute to our understanding of modernist poetry through their scholarly interpretations.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Literary scholars have developed different approaches to interpreting modernist poetry." |
|
| "Formalist critics focus primarily on analyzing the internal structure, language patterns, and literary devices within poems themselves." |
|
| "This approach dominated academic poetry analysis from the 1940s through the 1960s." |
|
| "Historical critics examine how poems reflect the social, political, and cultural circumstances of the time period in which they were written." |
|
| "This approach gained prominence during the 1970s as scholars sought to understand literature within broader historical contexts." |
|
Part B: Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Literary scholars use two main approaches to interpret modernist poetry: formalist critics focus on internal poetic elements, while historical critics examine how poems reflect their social and cultural contexts.
Argument Flow: The notes present a clear comparison between two scholarly approaches. First, we learn about formalist critics who analyze poems' internal features and dominated mid-20th century academia. Then we're introduced to historical critics who focus on external social contexts and became prominent later in the 1970s, representing a shift toward contextual analysis.
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, the key difference between these approaches is their focus: formalist critics look inward at the poem's structure and language, while historical critics look outward at social and cultural contexts.
- The right answer should clearly present this contrast between internal versus external focus.
Formalist critics analyze internal poetic elements like structure and language, while historical critics examine how poems reflect their social and political contexts.
- Directly contrasts the core methodological differences we identified.
- "Internal poetic elements like structure and language" matches our notes about formalist focus, while "how poems reflect their social and political contexts" matches historical critics' approach.
Literary scholars have developed various approaches to interpreting modernist poetry, including both formalist and historical methods.
- Simply states that both approaches exist without emphasizing differences.
- Doesn't use specific information about what each approach actually does.
Formalist criticism dominated from the 1940s through 1960s; historical criticism gained prominence during the 1970s.
- Focuses on temporal differences rather than methodological differences.
- While factually accurate about timelines, this doesn't emphasize the difference in how they approach poetry analysis.
Both formalist and historical critics contribute to our understanding of modernist poetry through their scholarly interpretations.
- Emphasizes similarities rather than differences, going against the student's goal of emphasizing difference.