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Roger Rosenblatt's book Black Fiction, in attempting to ap
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01 Jun 2020, 08:52
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Roger Rosenblatt's book Black Fiction, in attempting to apply literary rather than sociopolitical criteria to its subject, successfully alters the approach taken by most previous studies. As Rosenblatt notes, criticism of Black writing has often served as a pretext for expounding on Black history. Addison Gayle's recent work, for example, judges the value of Black fiction by overtly political standards, rating each work according to the notions of Black identity which it propounds.
Although fiction assuredly springs from political circumstances, its authors react to those circumstances in ways other than ideological, and talking about novels and stories primarily as instruments of ideology circumvents much of the fictional enterprise. Rosenblatt's literary analysis discloses affinities and connections among works of Black fiction which solely political studies have overlooked or ignored.
Writing acceptable criticism of Black fiction, however, presupposes giving satisfactory answers to a number of questions. First of all, is there a sufficient reason, other than the racial identity of the authors, to group together works by Black authors? Second, how does BJack fiction make itself distinct from other modern fiction with which it is largely contemporaneous? Rosenblatt shows that Black fiction constitutes a distinct body of writing that has an identifiable, coherent literary tradition. Looking at novels written by Blacks over the last eighty years, he discovers recurring concerns and designs independent of chronology. These structures are thematic, and they spring, not surprisingly, from the central fact that the Black characters in these novels exist in predominantly White culture, whether they try to conform to that culture or rebel against it.
Black Fiction does leave some aesthetic questions open. Rosenblatt's thematic analysis permits its considerable objectivity; he even explicitly states that it is not his intention to judge the merit of the various works yet his reluctance seems misplaced, especially since an attempt to appraise might have led to interesting results. For instance, some of the novels appear to be structurally diffuse. Is this a defect, or are the authors working out of, or trying to forge, a different kind of aesthetic? In addition, the style of some Black novels, like Jean Toomer's Cane, verges on expressionism or surrealism; does this technique provide a counterpoint to the prevalent theme that portrays the fate against which Black heroes are pitted, a theme usually conveyed by more naturalistic modes of expression?
In spite of such omissions, what Rosenblatt does include in his discussion makes for an astute and worthwhile study. Black Fiction surveys a wide variety of novels, bringing to our attention in the process some fascinating and little-known works like James Weldon Johnson's Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. Its argument is tightly constructed, and its forthright, lucid style exemplifies levelheaded and penetrating criticism.
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0% (00:00) wrong based on 17 sessions
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21. The author of the passage objects to criticism of Black fiction like that by Addison Gayle because it
(A) emphasizes purely literary aspects of such fiction (B) misinterprets the ideological content of such fiction (C) misunderstands the notions of Black identity contained in such fiction (D) substitutes political for literary criteria in evaluating such fiction (E) ignores the interplay between Black 'history and Black identity displayed in such fiction
62% (00:55) correct
38% (01:03) wrong based on 21 sessions
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22. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with
(A) evaluating the soundness of a work of criticism (B) comparing various critical approaches to a subject (C) discussing the limitations of a particular kind of criticism (D) summarizing the major points made in a work of criticism (E) explaining the theoretical background of a certain kind of criticism
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60% (01:31) wrong based on 20 sessions
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23. The author of the passage believes that Black Fiction would have been improved had Rosenblatt
(A) evaluated more carefully the ideological and historical aspects of Black fiction (B) attempted to be more objective in his approach to novels and stories by Black authors (C) explored in greater detail the recurrent thematic concerns of Black fiction throughout its history (D) established a basis for placing Black fiction within its own unique literary tradition (E) assessed the relative literary merit of the novels he analyzes thematically
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65% (01:18) wrong based on 23 sessions
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25. It can be inferred that the author of the passage would be LEAST likely to approve of which of the following?
(A) An analysis of the influence of political events on the personal ideology of Black writers (B) A critical study that applies sociopolitical criteria to autobiographies by Black authors (C) A literary study of Black poetry that appraises the merits of poems according to the political acceptability of their themes (D) An examination of the growth of a distinct Black literary tradition within the context of Black history (E) A literary study that attempts to isolate aesthetic qualities unique to Black fiction
37% (01:17) correct
63% (01:29) wrong based on 19 sessions
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27. The author of the passage refers to James Weldon Johnson's Autobiography of an ExColored Man most probably in order to
(A) point out affinities between Rosenblatt's method of thematic analysis and earlier criticism (B) clarify the point about expressionistic style made earlier in the passage (C) qualify the assessment of Rosenblatt's book made in the first paragraph of the passage (D) illustrate the affinities among Black novels disclosed by RosenblatCs literary analysis (E) give a specific example of one of the accomplishments of Rosenblatt's work
Re: Roger Rosenblatt's book Black Fiction, in attempting to ap
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02 Jun 2020, 18:57
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21. The author of the passage objects to criticism of Black fiction like that by Addison Gayle because it (D) substitutes political for literary criteria in evaluating such fiction correct- Addison Gayle's recent work, for example, judges the value of Black fiction by overtly political standards,
22. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with (A) evaluating the soundness of a work of criticism Correct- it is evaluation of Roger Rosenblatt's book Black Fiction (C) discussing the limitations of a particular kind of criticism (D) summarizing the major points made in a work of criticism (E) explaining the theoretical background of a certain kind of criticism C, D, E could be considered as partially correct but they are not complete
23. The author of the passage believes that Black Fiction would have been improved had Rosenblatt (E) assessed the relative literary merit of the novels he analyzes thematically Correct- Para 4- Black Fiction does leave some aesthetic questions open……. he even explicitly states that it is not his intention to judge the merit of the various works yet his reluctance seems misplaced, especially since an attempt to appraise might have led to interesting results.
24. The author's discussion of Black Fiction can be best described as POE (B) critical but admiring Correct- Para 4 is critical but overall the praises the book
25. It can be inferred that the author of the passage would be LEAST likely to approve of which of the following? (A) An analysis of the influence of political events on the personal ideology of Black writers Incorrect trap answer (B) A critical study that applies sociopolitical criteria to autobiographies by Black authors Incorrect trap answer- passage talks about works of fiction (C) A literary study of Black poetry that appraises the merits of poems according to the political acceptability of their themes correct- The theme of passage that author admires Roger Rosenblatt's approach of analyzing the works of black fiction from literary rather than merely socio-political criteria
26. The author of the passage uses all of the following in the discussion of Rosenblatt's book EXCEPT POE (D) definition of terms No definitions are provided in the passage
27. The author of the passage refers to James Weldon Johnson's Autobiography of an ExColored Man most probably in order to (E) give a specific example of one of the accomplishments of Rosenblatt's work Correct- Black Fiction surveys a wide variety of novels, bringing to our attention in the process some fascinating and little-known works like James Weldon Johnson's Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
Re: Roger Rosenblatt's book Black Fiction, in attempting to ap
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11 Dec 2021, 01:07
21. The author of the passage objects to criticism of Black fiction like that by Addison Gayle because it
Consider this from the passage: Addison Gayle's recent work, for example, judges the value of Black fiction by overtly political standards
(D) substitutes political for literary criteria in evaluating such fiction - Only this resembles the meaning.
Answer D
23. The author of the passage believes that Black Fiction would have been improved had Rosenblatt
From the passage: Black Fiction does leave some aesthetic questions open. Rosenblatt's thematic analysis permits its considerable objectivity; he even explicitly states that it is not his intention to judge the merit of the various works yet his reluctance seems misplaced, especially since an attempt to appraise might have led to interesting results.
From the highlighted part, it is clear that choice E is the answer.
(E) assessed the relative literary merit of the novels he analyzes thematically
Re: Roger Rosenblatt's book Black Fiction, in attempting to ap
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22 Apr 2024, 13:57
Expert Reply
tkorzhan28 wrote:
Carcass, what does it mean to analyze novel thematically for q23? What is the relevant information saying that novels have been analyzed thematically?
Rosenblatt's literary analysis discloses affinities and connections among works of Black fiction which solely political studies have overlooked or ignored.
Thematically means that you put highlighted the various interconnections or the underlined affinity among different elements. Maybe these interconnections are not so evident to the few
In fact , in the sentence above, he put in evidence the relationships among works of BF that they existed and were there. However, the political studies that analyzed the same works did not see