PrepTest 121 - Section 3 - Passage 2 - Question 8

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The poet Louise Glück has said that she feels comfortable writing within a tradition often characterized as belonging only to male poets. ███

Intro topic · Poet Louise Glück and gender dynamics in poetry

Glück's perspective · Appreciates work of prominent male poets, takes inclusive view of her place within English poetry

Contrast perspectives · Glück and other female poets

Other female poets view poetic tradition defined by male poets as excluding women; Glück disagrees, takes a positive view of poetic tradition

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Reason for Glück's perspective · Sees poetry as dealing with universal themes that cross gender divides

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Illustrate Glück's perspective · Example of death: it affects everyone

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Critics' perspective · Poetry's themes aren't as universal as Glück says

Gender-related biases exist regardless of subject matter; the work female poets is always affected by poetry's male-dominated history

Expand on critics' perspective · Female poets should replace traditional, male-developed poetic forms with new female-developed forms

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Glück's response to critics · Female-oriented poetry is counterproductive

It continues to put gender-based limits on poetry; also, gender-related perspectives come through more authentically when gender isn't the focus of the poetry

Expand on Glück's response · Literature is always evolving

Implication: using traditional, male-developed poetic forms doesn't mean such poetry will always reflect male biases

Passage Style

Critique or debate

Spotlight

As it is used in ███ ████████ █████████████ ███████ ██ ███ █████ ██████████ ██████ ████ ████████████ ██

Question Type

Meaning in context (of word, phrase, or idea)

Structure

To understand “inheritance,” let’s understand the surrounding lines. The author notes that Gluck did not believe her gender prevented her from appreciating male poets. In addition, she viewed these male poets as the “tradition” of her language. This suggests that “inheritance” means something like “part of what influences my poetry.”

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“Burden” doesn’t fit, because Gluck doesn’t view the male-dominated poetic tradition as a problem or undesirable thing to be borne. Gluck doesn’t have a negative attitude toward the male-dominated canon, but “burden” has a slightly negative connotation.

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“Considered acceptable” doesn’t fit, because Gluck doesn’t view the male-dominated canon as practitioners of the only set of forms and techniques that are acceptable. There might be many other acceptable forms and techniques. Gluck simply views the male-dominated canon as part of the history of English poetry and part of a linguistic tradition that she belongs to.

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This best captures the meaning of “inheritance.” Gluck views the male-dominated canon as something to respect and admire. She understood the themes and subjects of poetry from the male-dominated canon and tried to write about similar subjects.

60%

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Gluck wasn’t under the impression that she could write “only” about the subjects already explored. Although she chose to write about universal subjects, just as the male poets she viewed as her inheritance did, this doesn’t imply Gluck felt any limitation in subject matter in her poetry.

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“Imposition” doesn’t fit, because Gluck doesn’t view the male-dominated poetic tradition as something that’s required or unwelcome. Gluck doesn’t have a negative attitude toward the male-dominated canon, but “imposition” has a slightly negative connotation.

27%

PrepTest 121 - Section 3 - Passage 2 - Question 8

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