The Author starts by stating something negative and the author is not supporting this. He then backs his points by mentioning Henry James.
And mentions the most crucial part of the passage and states "This disparity between an experience and knowledge of that experience is the longest bridge an artist must cross" meaning Experience-Knowledge= The difference between the two is something that the author must cross.
And backs his point by mentioning Don Lee and explains how an author can firstly order his experience to move further to the experiences of other black people's life.
And says such representation would represent dynamic interchange of spirits.

Moving to the questions:

1. It can be inferred from the passage that the author considers poetry to be which of the following?

This Answer is a a straight D. The author explicitly states this in the passage-- In order to transform his own sufferings—or joys—as a Black person into usable knowledge for his readers, the author must first order his experiences in his mind.

(A) A means of diversion in which suffering is transformed into joy
(B) An art form that sometimes stifles creative energy
(C) A bridge between the mundane and the unreal
(D) A medium for conveying important information- Correct
(E) An area where beauty must be sacrificed for accuracy

3. The author refers to Henry James primarily in order to

The author states Henry James and says that the difference between experience and knowledge of that experience is the longest bridge. And Henry surely was did not cross the difference. Straight A. All the other options are either out of scope or supports some other points

(A) support his own perception of the “longest bridge”--Correct
(B) illustrate a coherent “combination of fact and meaning”
(C) provide an example of “dynamic interchange of the spirit”
(D) establish the pervasiveness of lack of self-knowledge
(E) contrast James’s ideas about poetry with those of Don L. Lee

Q. 2.
I am not sure about this one. But I choose option A. referring this part of the passage "one might automatically assume, is known to every Black author."
Pls explain this one.

P.s.: I finished reading the passage and solving the question in 6 mins. Trying to improve on this



Do let me know if the reasoning for the above question is wrong! I'd be happy to hear.

Hope this helps!

Kind regards