Q20

[da.chou]

This one is really bugging me. It asks for a generalization from the examples in paragraphs 2 and 3. Where are the traditions in paragraph 3? Are idealized images or what revolutionary poets say and write traditions? Or do we get traditions from "similar constructions" at the beginning of the paragraph.

How come D is not the right answer? And, from line 60, what does it even mean to "cross national boundaries"?

Thanks in advance.

[bbirdwell]

I'd say "similar constructions....Algeria" is clear example of this in paragraph 3.



Each of the other choices can be quickly eliminated;
(B) "generally requires?" No evidence for this.
(C) "Most?" Not supported
(D) Supported by line 60, in paragraph 4. Wrong part of the passage.
(E) "often more authentic?" Not supported.

(A) "apparent traditions" - like the example of Algeria and the Queen in India. They were like fake traditions, contrived to assert English dominance and Algerian revival. Thus, "artifice."

I think "cross national boundaries" means exactly that. Some historical and cultural experiences cross boundaries. Meaning that, even though you might have a Hawaiian luau in your backyard in Dallas this summer. (granted those aren't national boundaries, but you get the point...)

[jewels0602]

Can someone further explain why D is not the answer.

I thought 'artifice' in A had a negative connotation in its definition and thus thought it was too strong to exemplify esp. the third paragraph.

I chose D because in paragraph 2, the queen of england participating in 'traditional' jamboree was an example of cultural experience that crossed national boundaries and in third paragraph, the significant reference to French occupation and Algerian response to it by reviving a precolonial past pointed to a historical experience that cross national boundaries (experience of colonized/colonizer).


Def. line 60 explicitly talks about cross national experiences but I don't see how that takes away from it also being applicable to paragraphs 2 and 3.

Thanks!! Any help will be much appreciated.

[ohthatpatrick]

I want to start with how you ended: "line 60 explicitly talks about cross national experiences but I don't see how that takes away from it also being applicable to paragraphs 2 and 3."

This is where knowing the test, knowing how the test writers create trap answers can really make getting to the credited response easier.

Correct answers RARELY use verbatim phrases from the text. They use synonyms / paraphrases.

When I see a verbatim phrase, I lean towards assuming I'm looking at a trap answer.

When a question asks about one person's point of view (POV), a normal wrong answer is to provide someone else's POV from the passage.

When a question asks about one paragraph, a normal wrong answer is to answer the question about the wrong paragraph.

So if you actually knew that (D) was a verbatim excerpt from paragraph 4, you would DEFINITELY be 99% sure you're looking at a trap.

In reality, a better understanding of the VERY subtle tone words in the passage would make you like (A)'s negativity and reject (D)'s applicability to P2 and P3.

But sometimes we can struggle to understand the passage but still 'steal' some correct answers through our awareness of sketchy answers, and (D), quoting a line from the wrong paragraph, is the definition of sketchy.

"Artifice" IS negative, and P2 and P3 are actually being negative, just in that subtle academic way that makes it hard to hear tone.

The point in P1 is that the way cultures are often defined and described is NOT a neutral, factual depiction. Rather, it's a highly manipulative construct, meant to advance an 'agenda'.

The example in P1 consists of Europeans distorting the image of Greek civilization to make it seem more like Europeans were awesome.

If you realize that first example is some manipulative, agenda-laden BS, then when P2 begins with "another example", you know you're still getting served examples of shady, cultural lies.

P2 puts "tradition" in quotes twice, indicating a snarky sarcasm that these supposed traditions weren't at all legit. They were just propaganda.

Line 26, the "manufacture and reinterpretation" of rituals refers to distorting reality.

Line 37 is supposed to be dripping with tone: " .... as if her rule were not mainly ____ but rather ___"

P3 continues the examples of illicit cultural mistruths by beginning "similar constructions".

Again, the revolutionaries are fabricating / distorting / idealizing fake images of how "the good ol' days were" before colonial occupation.

So in none of these examples is anything like what (D) describes. These aren't genuine cultural constructs. They're manipulative propaganda. So it's not like a British tradition was taken to India, or a French tradition was taken to Algeria.

British people used an Indian tradition, in India, for selfish reasons.
Algerians invented a sense of old-fashioned Algerian tradition, in Algeria, for selfish reasons.

For what it's worth, I've always considered this passage to be one of the hardest to read/digest the first time through. So you're not alone.

[ChrisS148]

Hello - hoping this thread is still active.

I'm curious why having their cultural identities influenced in the past isn't a cultural and historical experience that crosses national borders? I see how one could infer that A is the correct answer choice, but I just thought that colonialism taking place in both Algeria and India was way more obvious.