Passage Discussion

[andrewgong01]

For this passage, was there a scale ?
I found this passage, like other literature/artistic related passages, hard to understand, especially during the first time i did it under timed condition for the prep test.

The passage seems to be talking about three literature movements in Chopin's life and what Chopin got out of each movement.Her novel, The Awakening, seems to only play a role in the final literature movement, New Women.

For my passage map, I had :
P1: Read sentimental novels that emphasized traditional female roles; Chopin does not seem to like this style
P2: Colorist style = Scientific detachment; eventually regrets less emphasis on female roles
P3: Chopin partially influenced by colorist style
P4: New Women moment to observe the unconscious and influences Chopin

The first time I read the passage I did try and make a scale based of the three movements but during review I did not try and draw a scale because I was unsure if there was any "contention"/ "two sides" to the piece


On a side note, what is the role of The Awakening in the text? I thought it was merely used as an example because the body does not mention the novel at all. However, it does show up in all the choices for Q8, which asked for the main point of the passage

[ohthatpatrick]

I think that was nice work! I certainly wouldn't assign a scale to this passage.

The framing sentence is actually the first sentence (for once). It sets out an umbrella claim (that Chopin developed through 3 phases of women's fiction). The rest of the passage unpacks that claim.

By the end of the passage, I need to know what those 3 phases were about and to what extent Chopin was with / against each one.

The role of The Awakening is WAY overplayed in the Main Point answers. This passage is all about the 3 phases of development.

The Awakening happens to be the book she's famous for, and it looks like the writers were using it as a way to bait people into thinking that the BOOK was the focus of the passage.

Any of the answer choices that actually FOCUS on The Awakening are automatically barking up the wrong tree.

We want something that sounds like "Chopin developed through 3 phases", and (B) sneaks in The Awakening in an inconsequential way, just to keep it consistent that all five answers had it.

The Awakening is also just a proxy for "where her 3-phase development ultimately landed her".

What I got out of the psg was
1st phase: sentimental novels (high society melodramas)
Chopin was exposed to these but certainly rebelled against them.

2nd phase: Local Colorists (detached scientific style, started out ignoring "women's culture" but ultimately missed it and returned to it)
Chopin liked the style but had no need for the return to domestic "women's culture". She used the style to show really sad stories, without being excessively sentimental.

3rd phase: New Women (experimental writers ... they mess around with structure / reality / etc.)
Chopin ended up using that style in The Awakening.