A portrait style that appeared with relentless frequency in 18th century england.... (its the one about the han insite the waistcoat one)
Basically in this passage it says "illuminate neither the source of ....popularity" right after it makes the statement of mirroring social behavior or statuatory.
The questions asks which the author would agree with. The answer was 1 (manual discussing social implications of "hand-in" stance and 3 (stance to adopt when portrait is painted)
I dont understand why the first one is an option. Let me know if you need the entire passage/ answer choices!
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- indiangal91
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- tommywallach
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Re: Powerprep test 2 question 7
Hey Indiangal,
It's definitely a tough question! You are right that the passage says that the mirroring of social behavior is not, in itself, enough of an explanation. However, answer choice (A) isn't about mirroring social behavior, but attempting to PRESCRIBE social behavior. The author wants to know why the pose is so popular. It might be popular because someone recommended it in a book about how to be socially correct. That's not a question of mirroring society as it is, but of telling society how it should be.
Hope that helps!
-t
P.S. For everyone else, I've pasted the passage and question below, so you can see what we're discussing.
A portrait type that appeared with relentless frequency in eighteenth-century England is the familiar image of a gentleman poised with one hand inside his partially unbuttoned waistcoat. Standard interpretations of this portrait posture offer observations of correspondence--demonstrating either that it mirrors actual social behavior or that it borrows from classical statuary. Such explanations, however, illuminate neither the source of this curious convention nor the reason for its popularity. It is true that in real life the "hand-in" was a common stance for elite men. Still, there were other ways of comporting the body that did not become winning portrait formulas. And even if the "hand-in" portrait does resemble certain classical statues, what accounts for the adoption of this particular pose?
Which of the following might provide an explanation for the popularity of the hand-in portraits that would satisfy the author of the passage? Select ALL that apply.
A. An eighteenth-century English etiquette manual discussing the social implications of the "hand-in" stance.
B. A comprehensive catalogue of eighteenth-century English portraits that showed what proportion of portraits depicted gentlemen in the "hand-in" stance.
C. A passage from an eighteenth-century English novel in which a gentleman considers what stance to adopt when his portrait his painted.
It's definitely a tough question! You are right that the passage says that the mirroring of social behavior is not, in itself, enough of an explanation. However, answer choice (A) isn't about mirroring social behavior, but attempting to PRESCRIBE social behavior. The author wants to know why the pose is so popular. It might be popular because someone recommended it in a book about how to be socially correct. That's not a question of mirroring society as it is, but of telling society how it should be.
Hope that helps!
-t
P.S. For everyone else, I've pasted the passage and question below, so you can see what we're discussing.
A portrait type that appeared with relentless frequency in eighteenth-century England is the familiar image of a gentleman poised with one hand inside his partially unbuttoned waistcoat. Standard interpretations of this portrait posture offer observations of correspondence--demonstrating either that it mirrors actual social behavior or that it borrows from classical statuary. Such explanations, however, illuminate neither the source of this curious convention nor the reason for its popularity. It is true that in real life the "hand-in" was a common stance for elite men. Still, there were other ways of comporting the body that did not become winning portrait formulas. And even if the "hand-in" portrait does resemble certain classical statues, what accounts for the adoption of this particular pose?
Which of the following might provide an explanation for the popularity of the hand-in portraits that would satisfy the author of the passage? Select ALL that apply.
A. An eighteenth-century English etiquette manual discussing the social implications of the "hand-in" stance.
B. A comprehensive catalogue of eighteenth-century English portraits that showed what proportion of portraits depicted gentlemen in the "hand-in" stance.
C. A passage from an eighteenth-century English novel in which a gentleman considers what stance to adopt when his portrait his painted.
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