#9 - Specific Reference, Must Be True, Purpose

[HK_Official]

What's the specific support in the passage for "illustrate the difficulties"?

[Adam Tyson]

While there is some explicit text that we could point to here, HK ("even the most prominent art specialists can be duped by a talented artist turned forger" earlier in that paragraph stands out to me), for questions like this we should be using a more abstract, context-based approach. The question is asking us why the author included this information, and most of the time they will not explain why directly. It is up to us to determine that by asking ourselves what that quoted text contributes to the passage overall. We have to draw that inference based on the totality of the circumstances, so to speak.

Using that approach, we have to prephrase something to answer in our own words why that was included, or what the author was trying to do by mentioning it.

Looking not only at that first paragraph, but at the passage as a whole, the author is trying to tell us that forgeries present challenging questions about the aesthetic merit of such works, questions which the author attempts to answer later in the passage. How does the mention of this critic serve that overall purpose? It doesn't contribute anything to answer the questions raised by forgeries, but it does show us that the questions themselves are challenging rather than easily dismissed. That view of the purpose of the passage as a whole is what helps us to see the specific purpose of any one portion of the passage, because each piece ultimately is intended to contribute to the whole.

Take a broad view of the passage when attacking questions about the purpose of some portion of the passage, HK, because everything should, in some way, serve that purpose!

[leasch]

Hi!

I answered this question correctly, though was very tempted to choose D and only went with E because it seemed to be more in line with the main point of the first paragraph (but couldn't really explain why D would be incorrect). Would you please explain what is wrong with choice D specifically and how it compares to E?

Thank you!

[katehos]

Hi leasch!

Good job answering the question correctly, (E) is definitely more in line with the main point of the first paragraph (and the passage as a whole).

Answer choice (D), on the other hand, describes the purpose of the art critic's refusal to believe the painting was a forgery as emphasizing that "the concept of forgery itself is internally incoherent". Did the passage discuss any internal incoherence contained within the idea of forgery itself? No! The author does not question the definition or idea of forgery, rather, the author discusses the difficulty associated with determining the artistic value of a forgery compared to the original and offers an explanation (Lessing's answer). Since there is no discussion of forgery being internally incoherent, (D) cannot be the reason why the author introduced the highly reputed critic's persistence.

Comparing this answer to (E), we can see that (E) does relate to the discussion of the passage at large. Multiple points in the text support the idea that skillful forgeries raise difficult questions for art critics (lines 1-5, lines 21-27, etc.). Equipped with the knowledge that the author believes skillful forgeries can pose difficulties for critics, it becomes much easier to see that the reputed critic's persistence is just one such example of critical difficulty with forgeries!

I hope this helps
Kate

[landphil]

Hello,

I got this question right on my practice test, but I still am not certain why the answer is E and not C. I do not see how we can know the author's purpose in including the fact that one renowned art critic still thinks the piece is authentic.

Is it just because if we take the passage as a whole, the piece is more about what E talks about and not C?
Thanks!

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi landphil,

Good question. The way we figure out the author's purpose is by thinking about what the author thinks would be true. The purpose of the segment must be consistent with the information we know from the author about the forgery. The author here wouldn't think that it's still a Vermeer. Indeed, the author is working from the assumption that the painting is in fact a forgery. Therefore, we know that answer choice (C) cannot be the correct answer choice because it's inconsistent with the author's perspective here.

When we think about the author's purpose in discussing a certain topic, we want to think about the overall structure of the passage. Often, the structure can help us see what role a part of the passage plays in the overall whole. The passage begins by talking about the difficulties with art forgeries due to the difficulty in spotting them. The passage uses the example of the Vermeer critic here, to demonstrate the difficulty posed by these forgeries. The passage continues from there to talk about how the artistic qualities might match between real Vermeer and this forgery. It then goes on to explain why we might care about the forgery anyway. The forgery would lack the innovation of the original.

So ultimately, when we think about the purpose of the discussion of the stubborn art critic, we what to think about it in that context. It's not going to be suggesting that the painting in question is actually a Vermeer. That would undermine the rest of the author's argument. However, it would illustrate the difficulties posed by these forgeries, which is answer choice (E).

Hope that helps!

[landphil]

Hi landphil,

Good question. The way we figure out the author's purpose is by thinking about what the author thinks would be true. The purpose of the segment must be consistent with the information we know from the author about the forgery. The author here wouldn't think that it's still a Vermeer. Indeed, the author is working from the assumption that the painting is in fact a forgery. Therefore, we know that answer choice (C) cannot be the correct answer choice because it's inconsistent with the author's perspective here.

When we think about the author's purpose in discussing a certain topic, we want to think about the overall structure of the passage. Often, the structure can help us see what role a part of the passage plays in the overall whole. The passage begins by talking about the difficulties with art forgeries due to the difficulty in spotting them. The passage uses the example of the Vermeer critic here, to demonstrate the difficulty posed by these forgeries. The passage continues from there to talk about how the artistic qualities might match between real Vermeer and this forgery. It then goes on to explain why we might care about the forgery anyway. The forgery would lack the innovation of the original.

So ultimately, when we think about the purpose of the discussion of the stubborn art critic, we what to think about it in that context. It's not going to be suggesting that the painting in question is actually a Vermeer. That would undermine the rest of the author's argument. However, it would illustrate the difficulties posed by these forgeries, which is answer choice (E).

Hope that helps!

Fantastic explanation, clear as day, thank you so much!