RC question.

[eee062010]

Manhattan 5lb

Nineteenth century painter Albert Bierstadt’s view of his artistic skill as a vehicle for self-promotion is was evident in his choices of style and subject matter. From the debut of his career with the exhibition of Lake Lucerne (1856), he developed a fixed style that was most easily recognizable for its size—the largest of the 636 paintings on display at the exhibition, it was over three meters wide. This, coupled with the artist’s ability to represent the optimistic feeling in America during the westward expansion, is what led to Bierstadt’s explosive growth in popularity during the
1860’s. Bierstadt deliberately appealed to those rich patrons—railroad tycoons and financiers—whose nearest substitute to making the arduous journey out West was to purchase a hyperbolized replica of a Western vista.

But trends following the Civil War produced a drastic shift away from the adventurous optimism of the pre-war era and toward a more subdued appreciation for the details of American life. In this new social context, the paintings now seemed too decadent, too gaudy, for the new philosophy taking root in the country following the horrors of war. As one commentator in 1866 put it, Bierstadt’s work “may impose upon the senses, but does not affect the heart.” In a sense, then, that same American pride upon which Bierstadt had capitalized to advance his success was now, in its fickleness, the source of his downfall.

179. The passage makes use of the phrase in quotations primarily in order to
(A) challenge a prevailing thesis
(B) point out an erroneous assertion
(C) provide expert testimony
(D) highlight a controversy
(E) offer evidence supporting a claim


Please explain why answer E.


Side note: I think in bold part "is was". one should be removed.

[tommywallach]

Hey eee,

First off, good catch on the typo. We'll address that in future editions.

As for the question, let's look at the piece in quotations: Bierstadt's work “may impose upon the senses, but does not affect the heart.” This seems to relate to the following sentence: "...that same American pride upon which Bierstadt had capitalized to advance his success was now, in its fickleness, the source of his downfall." This last sentence is what the whole argument has been building to, as the passage tracks Bierstadt's success, then failure.

(A) Nothing in this passage suggests that there's a challenge to a prevailing thesis. This seems like a single argument (Bierstadt stopped being popular because of shifts in the culture at large).

(B) Again, nothing is ever described as "erroneous" (incorrect) in the passage.

(C) This is a very tempting one, but we don't technically know that the person in question is any kind of expert, just a commentator. HOWEVER, I agree with you that this is deeply tempting, and I'm on the fence now about whether I feel this is a fair question.

(D) This is similar to (A). Nothing in the passage suggests that there's a controversy of any kind.

(E) CORRECT. This is a boring, vague answer, but the GRE loves boring, vague answers! Basically, we're trying to prove that Bierstadt collapsed because his work was no longer interesting to the people. This quote is further evidence of that.

Hmm. I'm going to do some research on this question and get back to you. I agree that both (C) and (E) seem like fair answers.

-t