Reading Passage Questions
The poet Louise Glück has said that she feels comfortable writing within a tradition often characterized as belonging only to male poets. About her own experience reading poetry, Glück notes that (5) her gender did not keep her from appreciating the poems of Shakespeare, Blake, Keats, and other male poets. Rather she believed this was the tradition of her language and that it was for this reason her poetic inheritance. She thus views the canon of poets in (10) English as a literary family to which she clearly belongs. Whereas many contemporary women poets have rejected this tradition as historically exclusionary and rhetorically inadequate for women, Glück embraces it with respect and admiration.
(15) Glück’s formative encounters with poetry also provided her with the theoretical underpinnings of her respect for this tradition; she notes that in her youth she could sense many of the great themes and subjects of poetry even before experiencing them in (20) her own life. These subjects—loss, the passage of time, desire—are timeless, available to readers of any age, gender, or social background. Glück makes no distinction between these subjects as belonging to female or male poets alone, calling them “the great (25) human subjects.” If the aim of a poem is to explore the issue of human mortality, for example, then issues of gender distinction fade behind the presence of this universal reality.
Some of Glück’s critics claim that this idea of the (30) universal is suspect and that the idea that gender issues are transcended by addressing certain subjects may attribute to poetry an innocence that it does not have. They maintain that a female poet writing within a historically male-dominated tradition will on some (35) level be unable to avoid accepting certain presuppositions, which, in the critics’ view, are determined by a long-standing history of denigration and exclusion of female artists. Furthermore, they feel that this long-standing history cannot be confronted (40) using tools—in Glück’s case, poetic forms—forged by the traditions of this history. Instead critics insist that women poets should strive to create a uniquely female poetry by using new forms to develop a new voice.
(45) Glück, however, observes that this ambition, with its insistence on an essentially female perspective, is as limiting as her critics believe the historically male dominated tradition to be. She holds that to the extent that there are some gender differences that have been (50) shaped by history, they will emerge in the differing ways that women and men write about the world— indeed, these differences will be revealed with more authority in the absence of conscious intention. She points out that the universal subjects of literature do (55) not make literature itself timeless and unchanging. Literature, she maintains, is inescapably historical, and every work, both in what it includes and in what it omits, inevitably speaks of its social and historical context.
“The poet Louise Glück has said that she feels comfortable writing within a tradition” - is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.
This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 7 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.
Solution and Explanation
- Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the passage?
(A) In response to her critics, Glück argues that the attempt to develop a uniquely female voice is as restrictive as they believe the male tradition in poetry to be.
(B) Although critics have taken Glück to task for writing poetry that is generic in subject rather than specifically aimed at addressing women’s concerns, she believes that poetry must instead concern itself with certain universal themes.
(C) In spite of critics who attempt to limit art to expressing the unique perspectives of the artist’s gender, Glück believes that art in fact represents a perspective on its subject matter that is equally male and female.
(D) In opposition to some critics, Glück writes on universal themes rather than striving for a uniquely female voice, believing that whatever gender differences are present will emerge unconsciously in any case.
(E) Aside from the power and accomplishment of her writing, Glück has yet to offer a completely satisfying response to the critics’ demand that her work reflect the conflict between male and female perspectives on poetic subject matter.
Answer: D
Explanation: The correct answer should portray the whole idea of this unified passage. The passage is all about Glück’s views on the male-dominated canon and the proper subjects of poetry; her critics’ beef; and her rebuttal. In option D, we find the acknowledgement of the critics as well as the brief of the passage. Hence, D is the correct answer. .
- Based on the passage, with which one of the following statements regarding the poetic tradition in English would Glück be most likely to agree?
(A) This tradition is somewhat diminished for its lack of recognized female poets.
(B) This tradition transcends its social and historical context.
(C) The male-dominated aspect of this tradition can be overcome only by developing a uniquely female voice in poetry.
(D) The view of this tradition as an inheritance is necessary for a poet to be successful.
(E) This tradition, though male dominated, addresses universal subjects.
Answer: E
Explanation: In the passage Gluck talks about the tradition which is the male domination. It is also mentioned that though the situation was male dominated, it addresses all the subjects and parts of life. Option E is in sync with the answer. Hence, E is the correct choice.
- As it is used in the passage, “inheritance” (line 9) refers most specifically to
(A) the burden that a historically male-dominated poetic canon places on a contemporary woman poet
(B) the set of poetic forms and techniques considered acceptable within a linguistic culture
(C) the poetry written in a particular language, whose achievement serves as a model for other poets writing in that language
(D) the presumption that contemporary poets can write only on subjects already explored by the poets in that language who are considered to be the most celebrated
(E) the imposition on a poet, based on the poetry of preceding generations in that language, of a particular writing style
Answer: C
Explanation: The word inheritance usually means taking or getting something from the past generations. In the passage, the poetry was written in the language which had its achievements and had already served as model for other poets. This is inheriting something from the past. Hence, C is the correct answer.
- Based on the description in the passage, a poem that reveals gender differences in the absence of any specific intention by the poet to do so is most like
(A) a bird’s flight that exposes unseen air currents
(B) a ship’s prow that indicates how strong a wave it is designed to withstand
(C) a building’s facade that superficially embellishes an ordinary structure
(D) a railroad track, without which travel by train is impossible
(E) a novel that deliberately conceals the motives of its main character
Answer: A
Explanation: The question asks us to locate a poetic metaphor for a particular phenomenon. We are looking for something in which something profound comes out even though it wasn’t intended. As per option (A)—the bird on the wing cannot have intended to expose unseen air currents, but expose them it does. This is just as gender differences come out irrespective of whether that was the poet’s intent or not. Hence, A is the correct answer.
- According to the passage, Glück believes that art reveals gender differences with more authority when which one of the following is true?
(A) The artist refuses to accept certain presuppositions about gender.
(B) The artist uses the tools of that art’s tradition.
(C) The artist does not consciously intend to reveal such differences.
(D) The artist comments on gender issues through the use of other subject matter.
(E) The artist embraces that art’s tradition with respect.
Answer: C
Explanation: As per the passage, we can see that it was not the intention of the artist to reveal the gender inequality. The art they create automatically does that when the artist does not do it consciously. Option C states the same, making it the correct answer.
- Which one of the following statements about Glück is made in the passage?
(A) She objects to the use of traditional poetic forms to confront the history of the poetic tradition.
(B) She recognizes that the idea of the universal in poetry is questionable.
(C) She claims to accept only male poets as her literary family.
(D) She claims to write from a gender-neutral perspective.
(E) She claims to have sensed the great themes and subjects of poetry while in her youth.
Answer: E
Explanation: The passage says that Gluck was able to identify the theme of her poetry when she was young. Option E states the same and hence, it is the correct answer.
- Based on the passage, which one of the following most accurately characterizes the author’s attitude toward Glück’s view of poetry?
(A) respectful dismissal
(B) grudging acceptance
(C) detached indifference
(D) tacit endorsement
(E) enthusiastic acclaim
Answer: D
Explanation: As per the author, Glück’s view of poetry, one might come up with: “pretty darned respectful.” The author uses precise and elegant language to articulate her perspective on the traditional canon and the proper subjects of poetry; he reports on her critics without signing on to their position, and he employs strong prose for her paragraph 4 rebuttal. All of that supports (D) making it correct.
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