GRE Reading Comprehension

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Source: PP2

In Raisin in the Sum, Lorraine Hansberry does not reject integration or the economic and moral promise of the American dream; rather, she remains loyal to this dream while looking, realistically, at its incomplete realization. Once we recognize this dual vision, we can accept the play's ironic nuances as deliberate social commentaries by Hansberry rather than as the "unintentional" irony that Bigsby attributes to the work. Indeed, a curiously persistent refusal to credit Hansberry with a capacity for intentional irony has led some critics to interpret the play's thematic conflictsas mere confusion, contradiction, or eclecticism. Isaacs, for example, cannot easily reconcile Hansberry's intense concern for her race with her ideal of human reconciliation. But the play's complex view of Black self-esteem and human solidarity as compatible is no more "contradictory" than Du Bois' famous, well-considered ideal of ethnic self-awareness coexisting with human unity, or Fanon's emphasis on an ideal internationalism that also accommodates national identities and roles.

Question List: 1 2 3

The author of the passage would probably consider which of the following judgments to be most similar to the reasoning of the highlighted critics?

  • A The world is certainly flat, therefore, the person proposing to sail around it is unquestionably foolhardy.
  • B Radioactivity cannot be directly perceived; therefore, a scientist could not possibly control it in a laboratory.
  • C The painter of this picture could not intend it to be funny, therefore, its humor must result from a lack of skill.
  • D Traditional social mores are beneficial to culture, therefore, anyone who deviates from them acts destructively.
  • E Filmmakers who produce documentaries deal exclusively with facts; therefore, a filmmaker who reinterprets particular events is misleading us

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