PASSAGE A
It goes without saying that it is the content of art that
constitutes its value, and the form is merely the means of
expression of whatever message, representation, analogy or other
content the artist wishes to bring before the viewer. Although
much attention has been given in recent years to the artistic
form, and arguments have been advanced that aesthetics are at
least as important as content, the truth is that a painting or
other work of art that fails to say something to the viewer can
hardly be classified a work of art at all.
What remains to be determined is the correct approach to the
assessment of the meaning and resulting value of a work of art.
Plato would have had us believe that art was of little or no
value at all—objects themselves, in his view, were only
imitations, and thus an artistic representation of an object one
step further removed from the truth. Most who retain an interest
in the issue in modern times agree that art, or at least some
art, has value, but the standard for determining that value, and
for assessing the meaning conveyed by the creator, remains a
point of contention.
Certainly, when one critic interprets a work as a literal
representation, another as a religious allegory, and still a
third as a psychological expression of the artist's own issues
and experiences, only one can be correct: the mere fact that they
arrive at opposing conclusions illustrates that. However, as yet
a clear standard has not emerged for determining which the artist
actually intended, and so in those cases where the artist has not
explicitly shared that information, there will always be
contention about the true meaning and value of an individual
work.
PASSAGE B
Susan Sontag summed up everything important about artistic
interpretation when she said, "To interpret is to impoverish, to
deplete the world�in order to set up a shadow world of
'meanings'." For particular types of criticism, she had even
stronger language, and rightly so. For instance, she suggested
that Freudian symbolic interpretation necessarily reflected
dissatisfaction with the work, a desire to substitute for it.
After all, if the viewer-critic had responded deeply to the
actual work of art, then he or she would have had no need to
create some alternate meaning or interpretation to impose value
upon it.
Such dissatisfaction, however, isn�t necessarily indicative of
a flaw in the work. The flaw, if there is one, may be in the
viewer, or rather in the urge to interpret and the preconceived
form of interpretation that makes it impossible for the viewer to
experience the work fresh and unfettered. Thus, it seems that the
very standards and analysis that we apply in an effort to
determine the meaning and value of a work of art may become the
screen that clouds the true meaning and value, making an accurate
assessment of the worth of a work impossible.
1. Which of the following assumptions is common to both
passages?
- Freudian interpretation does not yield an accurate view of
the meaning and value of a work of art
- There is an objective answer to the question as to whether
or not a work of art has value
- Interpretation is a negative approach to art that does not
help to determine the meaning or value of a particular
work
- The artist's intention is key to the valid interpretation
of a work of art
- Plato was incorrect in viewing art as an imitation of an
imitation
2. Which of the following is mentioned by the author of
Passage A, but not by the author of Passage B, as a problem with
the current state of artistic interpretation?
- Interpretation is destructive to the original work, in that
it seeks to replace it with something outside the work
- Interpretation obscures the true meaning of a work
- Too much emphasis is placed on what the artist intended and
not enough on what the work actually conveys
- There is no clear standard for assessing the value and
meaning of a work of art
- Modern interpretation seeks to project value onto works of
art, which are inherently limited in value because they are
simply imitative
3. The authors of the two passages would be most likely to
disagree over:
- The best formula for interpreting the meaning of a work of
art accurately
- The validity of Freudian interpretation as a means of
deriving important information about the meaning of a work of
art
- Plato's assessment of the value of art overall
- The importance of the artist's intentions in assessing the
value of a work of art
- Whether or not there is a "correct" system of artistic
interpretation
4. The attitude of the author of Passage B toward artistic
interpretation can best be described as:
- conflicted
- cautiously optimistic
- unfavorable
- inconsistent
- dismissive
5. The author of Passage B would be most likely to make which
of the following criticisms about the analysis contained in the
last paragraph of Passage A?
- It places an unwarranted value on the intention of the
artist
- It assumes that there is a form of artistic interpretation
that will yield valuable and accurate information about a work
of art
- It underestimates the role of literal representation in
most artwork
- It lists only a small fraction of the possible methods of
interpretation
- It misstates the relationship between content and form in a
work of art
6. The relationship between Passage A and Passage B is most
analogous to the relationship between the documents described in
which of the following?
- A position paper that encourages the creation of an
accepted set of standards for remodeling an existing structure
and one offering the opinion that remodeling would not be
beneficial at all
- An article supporting a new school of thought about
educational processes, and an article arguing that the current
processes are superior to the proposed changes
- An article describing three conflicting schools of thought
regarding musical interpretation and an article advancing one
of those three schools as clearly superior to the others
- An article describing the sociological impact of art on
early cultures and an article detailing the timeline and
technical aspects of early art
- A criticism of avant-garde fiction as a genre and a
criticism of conventional fiction as outdated and stale
7. Which of the following most accurately describes the
relationship between the argument in Passage A and the argument
in Passage B?
- Passage A makes vague claims without providing supporting
evidence, while the conclusions in Passage B are based strictly
on specific illustrations
- Passage A and Passage B come to the same conclusion, but
arrive at it through very different analyses
- Passage A warns about the dangers and weaknesses of a much
broader spectrum of approaches than Passage B, which is more
limited in scope
- Passage A seeks a workable set of standards to apply to a
process that Passage B suggests cannot be addressed
productively regardless of the standards applied
- Passage A provides examples that are used by the author of
Passage B to prove a very different point