501 Critical Reading Questions

(Sean Pound) #1

  1. a. Inherentlyis an adverb that describes the essential nature of
    something. The context clue to answer this question is found
    in the same sentence. All art is inherently publicbecause it is cre-
    ated in order to convey an idea or emotion to others. The author is
    saying that an essentialcharacteristic of art is that it is created
    for others.

  2. b.Line 16 defines public art as the kind of art created for and dis-
    played in public spaces, and lines 20–22 state that public art is
    specifically designed for a public arena where the art will be encoun-
    tered by people in their normal day-to-day activities. This is in con-
    trast to private art, which is less accessible because it is kept in
    specific, non-public places such as museums and galleries.

  3. b.To sequesteris to seclude or isolate. Thus, the use of this word
    suggests that the author feels private art is too isolated, and cut
    off from the public.

  4. d.The seven functions are listed in the fifth paragraph: educating,
    place making, stimulating the public, promoting community,
    beautifying, and regenerating. While promoting good citizen-
    ship may be a side benefit of public art, it is not discussed in the
    passage.

  5. a. After defining public art, the rest of the passage discusses the
    functions of public art and its impact on the city.

  6. d.The examples in the first paragraph and the list of different
    kinds of public art (e.g., ornamental benches in line 28) will
    make readers more aware of public art; paragraphs 2 and 3
    explain the difference between public and private art; paragraph
    5 explains how public art affects the community; and paragraph
    6 discusses how public art should be created. A few readers may
    be inspired to create public art after reading this passage, but
    that is not one of its goals.

  7. a. Although lines 12–13 states that there exists in every city a symbi-
    otic relationship between the city and its artand paragraph 5
    explains how public art affects the city, there is no discussion of
    how the city affects art.

  8. b.Because the main purpose is to show what public art is and how
    public art affects the city, the passage would be best served by
    an expanded discussion of how public art fulfills each of the
    important functions in paragraph 5.

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