#13 - Concept Reference, Must Be True, Author's Perspective

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (D).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[l0bstah_r0ll1219]

I had trouble judging the author's attitude toward the deconstructionists here. I knew the author referred to them as mechanical, but too mechanical felt like an overstatement to me. What did I miss about the author's point of view? And how can you tell?

[Jeff Wren]

Hi l0bstah_r0ll,

The author's view/tone toward deconstructionist thought is critical/negative, although this can be easy to miss.

The first clue is the word "presumptuously" (line 10) in referring to the adherents to the deconstruction school of literary criticism.

The second and main clue appears in the final paragraph, where the author contrasts the words and related connotations of "criticism" and "deconstruction." The first contrast is "not organic but mechanical processes" (line 30). Here, "organic" means natural and "mechanical" means artificial or contrived. The implication is that organic is preferred.

According to the passage, "criticism" conveys the idea of "skillful in judging, decisive" (lines 47-48), which is positive. By contrast, "Deconstruction, on the other hand, has no overtones of skill or wisdom, it merely suggests demolition of an existing building" (lines 48-50), which is negative. While it is true that the author is specifically referring to the word "deconstruction" here rather than the deconstruction school of literary criticism, the author does this to point out how the original meaning of the word "deconstruction" influences/describes what the deconstruction school of literary criticism actually does. This is why the passage ends by describing the deconstructionist (meaning someone who practices this type of literary criticism) as "both judge and executioner who leaves a text totally dismantled, if not reduced to a pile of rubble" (lines 54-56).

Words like "executioner" convey negative tone. The author feels that these critics are killing/destroying the art/text rather than merely skillfully judging it, as a good critic should.