PrepTest 78, Passage 2, Question 7
Transcript
Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the passage? So this is a main point question. So let's refresh our memory on the facts of the passage. So from the passage overview we discuss how the passage focuses on social historical interpretations of art and how those political and social elite produced art.
So, the author introduces the perspective of Taruskin and his colleagues, who viewed art as a production of a class to impose its ideas, but the author then spends a majority of the passage deconstructing Taruskin's ideas and perhaps, implying it is, that this art that is endure does not reflect the ideas of the elite. So, that's the conclusion here is that enduring art doesn't reflect the values of the elite in the way that Taruskin and these, sort of, sociohistorical critics are claiming that it does.
So, the correct answer is B. Socoiohistorical interpretations of art that claim that art merely reflects the ideas and values of the elite classes are overly simplistic. So, Taruskin believes that the art reflects the elite classes' values, but the author in the passage has a different perspective and believes that the argument that these sociohistorical critics try to advance is simply or too simplistic.
In fact, the author devotes a significant amount of attention in the passage to pinpointing these flaws in Sirushkin's viewpoint, pointing out the poor taste and the hobbies that those commissioning the arts had, and how likely it was that the artist took advantage of sort of the aloofness of the elite that in some ways mock them or reflected opposite values. So, given all this, this answer choice truly reflects the main point of the argument which is to challenge Taruskin's reviews on how art that has endured reflects the ideas of the elite.
Read full transcriptSo, the author introduces the perspective of Taruskin and his colleagues, who viewed art as a production of a class to impose its ideas, but the author then spends a majority of the passage deconstructing Taruskin's ideas and perhaps, implying it is, that this art that is endure does not reflect the ideas of the elite. So, that's the conclusion here is that enduring art doesn't reflect the values of the elite in the way that Taruskin and these, sort of, sociohistorical critics are claiming that it does.
So, the correct answer is B. Socoiohistorical interpretations of art that claim that art merely reflects the ideas and values of the elite classes are overly simplistic. So, Taruskin believes that the art reflects the elite classes' values, but the author in the passage has a different perspective and believes that the argument that these sociohistorical critics try to advance is simply or too simplistic.
In fact, the author devotes a significant amount of attention in the passage to pinpointing these flaws in Sirushkin's viewpoint, pointing out the poor taste and the hobbies that those commissioning the arts had, and how likely it was that the artist took advantage of sort of the aloofness of the elite that in some ways mock them or reflected opposite values. So, given all this, this answer choice truly reflects the main point of the argument which is to challenge Taruskin's reviews on how art that has endured reflects the ideas of the elite.
