Stephen Hannock's luminous landscape paintings are appealing to viewers but have elicited little commentary from contemporary critics, a phenomenon th...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Stephen Hannock's luminous landscape paintings are appealing to viewers but have elicited little commentary from contemporary critics, a phenomenon that may be due to the very fact that the paintings seem so ______. Many critics focus their attention on art that is cryptic or overtly challenging.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
innovative
subversive
profound
accessible
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Stephen Hannock's luminous landscape paintings are appealing to viewers but have elicited little commentary from contemporary critics," |
|
| "[MISSING WORD]" |
|
| "a phenomenon that may be due to the very fact that the paintings seem so ______." |
|
| "Many critics focus their attention on art that is cryptic or overtly challenging." |
|
Part B: Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Critics may ignore Hannock's appealing landscape paintings because they don't match critics' preference for cryptic or challenging artwork.
Argument Flow: The passage sets up a puzzling contrast (popular with viewers but ignored by critics), then suggests this might be explained by some quality the paintings have, and finally reveals that critics typically focus on cryptic or challenging art instead.
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
- We need a word that describes how Hannock's paintings seem, and this quality explains why critics (who prefer cryptic/challenging art) don't pay attention to them
- If critics like cryptic/challenging art, then they would ignore art that seems the opposite - something like clear, straightforward, or easy to understand
innovative
✗ Incorrect
- "Innovative" means new or original
- This doesn't explain why critics would ignore the paintings - critics often love innovative art
subversive
✗ Incorrect
- "Subversive" means challenging established ideas
- This would actually attract critics' attention since they like challenging art
profound
✗ Incorrect
- "Profound" means deep or meaningful
- Critics typically appreciate profound art, so this wouldn't explain their lack of attention
accessible
✓ Correct
- "Accessible" means easy to understand or approach
- This perfectly explains why critics who prefer "cryptic or overtly challenging" art would overlook these paintings