New York City SHSAT 2017

We hope you caught that this passage was about why the Hudson River School became so successful. You should have also noted
that the second paragraph addresses how American nationalism contributed to the success of the Hudson River School and the third
paragraph discusses how nationalist sentiment was evident in the Hudson River School painting style.

Main Idea Question

Do you see which one of these answers describes the entire passage without being too broad or too narrow?

(A) is too broad, as is (E). The passage is not about all American landscape painting, it’s about the Hudson River School.
Nationalism in the United States is much larger than the role of nationalism in a particular art movement. (C) and (D) are too
narrow. European painters did influence the Hudson River School painters, but that wasn’t the point of the whole passage. Similarly,
writers are mentioned in paragraph 2, but the passage is about an art movement. Only (B) captures the the essence of the passage—
it’s about an art movement that caught the public imagination.

Detail Question

the styles and techniques of centuries, they sought

neither to embellish nor to idealize their scenes,

( 50 )portraying nature with the care and attention to detail

of naturalists.

1. Which of the following best tells what this passage is about?

A. the history of American landscape painting

B. why an art movement caught the public imagination

C. how European painters influenced the Hudson River School

D. why writers began to romanticize the American wilderness

E. the origins of nationalism in the United States

2. Which of the following is not mentioned as one of the reasons for the success of the Hudson River School?

F. American nationalism increased after the War of 1812.

G. Americans were nostalgic about the frontier.

H. Writers began to focus on the wilderness.

J. The United States wanted to compete with Europe.

K. City dwellers became concerned about environmental pollution.