CHAPTER 4 / CRITICAL READING SKILLS 177
Answer Key 2:
Analyzingthe Purpose and Central Idea
- the question being analyzed
- The central idea must “carry through” the entire
passage, so to check that you’ve found the central
idea, make sure that every paragraph contributes
to that central idea. If not, then reread the para-
graph until it “fits” with the central idea, or recon-
sider what the central idea is. - This passage is an argument; the author is pre-
senting a subjective theory about art and artistic
movements. Its central idea, or thesis, is summa-
rized in lines 3–4: each period of culture produces
an art of its own which can never be repeated.
Concept Review 2
- Narrative: to tell a story; argument: to persuade;
analysis: to inform. - a. Narrative: biography, story, autobiography,
memoir, novel, fiction, account
b. Argument: comment, argue, opinion, perspec-
tive, point of view, position
c. Analysis: examine, analyze, scientific, historical,
explore - The central idea is the idea that focuses, organizes,
andunifiesthe passage. Every paragraph must
contribute to the central idea. - the conflict
- the thesis
SAT Practice 2- C The title should capture the central idea of
the passage, which is the thesis that it is difficult
to rekindle primitive art because all art is “a child
of its age” (line 1) and because modern material-
ism is interfering with primitive impulses. The
best title, then, is (C) Obstacles to the Revival of
Primitive Art. - B The passage says that a monkey can look at a
book with a “thoughtful aspect” but really have no
understanding of the book. Since the monkey
does not understand the book, choices (A) and (D)
are illogical. The sentence is saying that the mon-
key only looksthoughtful, so choice (B) is the only
sensible one. - E The “fundamental truth” described in the sec-
ond paragraph is that a “revival of external forms”
(line 26), that is, art forms that resemble those of
the past, can occur only when there is “a similar-
ity of inner tendency in the whole moral and
spiritual atmosphere” (lines 20–22). The only
example given that suggests that fact is (E). - A In these lines, the author is using a metaphor
to describe how “our minds” and “the soul,” by
which he means the artistic, spiritual mind, are
affected by the materialism of the age. Artistic
inspiration is described as a “spark,” and materi-
alism as a “nightmare” and a “vast gulf of dark-
ness.” The soul “trembles” because it doubts that
the light is “not a dream,” meaning that the light
might be a dream and the darkness reality. There-
fore the author suggests that materialism might
still hold the artistic soul in its grip.
5. D The metaphor in the final paragraph makes it
clear that materialism “holds the awakening soul
in its grip” (lines 41–42). This is not a nurturing
grip, because the soul “trembles” (line 45) before
the “nightmare of materialism” (line 39). Therefore,
according to the author, materialism oppresses the
artistic soul.
6. C The “costly vase” is described as something
that has been “long buried in the earth, which is
found to have a flaw when it is dug up once more”
(lines 51–53). This vase is compared to “our soul”
(line 50), which is described as having a “sympa-
thy” (line 28) and “spiritual relationship” (line 29)
with the primitives. Therefore, the costly vase
clearly represents the irretrievable idea of
primitivism.