Naturalism, arising in the 19 th century as a literary response to Darwin's account of evolution, focused on describing everyday reality but differed from realism in its attempts to provide a "scientific" foundation for its depictions of characters, stressing the influence of environment and heredity upon the individual psyche. Émile Zola, in particular, saw his craft as an extension of the scientific method into the domain of art. The 19 th century, perhaps in opposition to naturalism, saw the rise of the Decadent movement, embracing artifice over nature in writing, championed by Zola's erstwhile protégé, Joris-Karl Huysmans. The protagonist of his masterpiece, Á rebours (literally, Against the Grain, but more commonly translated as Against Nature), removes himself from society-viewing it as the product of a nature long surpassed by human ingenuity—and surrounds himself exclusively with art, perfume, literature, and technology.

Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.

Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about perfume?

A. Some followers of the Decadent movement considered it to be an example of human artifice.
B. Some followers of the Decadent movement considered it to be superior to natural entities.
C. Some followers of the Decadent movement enjoyed surrounding themselves with it.



Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.

Which of the following, if true, would undermine the claim that the Decadent movement was opposed to naturalism?

A. Decadent authors intended to use literature as a vehicle for the scientific method.
B. Decadent authors focused on the effects of environment on shaping character.
C. Decadent authors elaborated on the way inherited traits influenced human behavior.