SAT writing- psggd11)- hard set 3

5439816)

Questions 12-22 are based on the following passage.

Not-So-Ancient Poetry

In the late 1700s, readers across Europe 12 got a big kick out of a series of poems purportedly written by Ossian, a legendary Scottish poet and storyteller from the third century. 13 Ossian was said to have worked in the oral rather than the written tradition, and the French general Napoleon Bonaparte so admired the poems 14 to where he commissioned two paintings of Ossian to be hung in his summer palace. There was just one problem: the poems were largely the invention of their so-called translator, James Macpherson.

Macpherson was a Scottish 15 Highlander who grew up listening to songs and stories in the Gaelic language. When he began his career as a schoolteacher in Ruthven, Scotland, he set about collecting the tales and ballads of the region. A friend persuaded him to translate the Gaelic poem “The Death of Oscar” into English, and in 1760 Macpherson published his translation, along with translations of several other poems, in a volume entitled Fragments of Ancient Poetry.

The Fragments immediately captured the public’s imagination. Equally captivating was Macpherson’s hint in the preface that an epic poem (a poem chronicling heroic deeds of great significance to a culture) might be recovered through further study of ancient manuscripts and oral traditions in the Highlands. Excited patrons provided Macpherson with funds to undertake a research 16 trip, they were not disappointed. 17 In spite of their contributions, Macpherson published two epic poems, Fingal and Temora, which recounted the feats of ancient Gaelic warriors. Macpherson claimed that the poems had been written by Ossian.

18 The influential English author Samuel Johnson demanded to see the original 19 manuscripts, that Macpherson had translated. When Macpherson refused, Johnson accused him of fraud and undertook a trip to Scotland to debunk Macpherson’s claims. Johnson provided a formal account of his suspicions in his 1775 travel book, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland.

The public remained divided between those who believed in the poems’ authenticity and those who agreed with Johnson that the poems were a hoax. 20 Today it is believed that Macpherson created the Ossian texts by combining poetry and stories he had heard on his travels with 21 invented material of his own invention. Having set out to find an epic poet in the Highlands, he created one by attributing these amalgamated works to the mythic Ossian. Although many modern critics do not share Johnson’s hostility toward Macpherson, Johnson was ultimately correct in thinking that poems such as Fingal and Temora are better understood as the work of an eighteenth-century poet 22 than as a third-century one.

Which choice provides a supporting example that is most similar to the other example in the sentence?

5441304)

Questions 34-44 are based on the following passage.

Costume Curators in the Digital Age

Bridging art and popular culture, costume exhibits have enabled museums to attract media attention and new audiences. Such exhibits are created and overseen by costume 34 curators. The term “costume curators” refers to professionals who oversee the acquisition, maintenance, and display of clothing collections at museums. Costume curators must have a deep knowledge of their collections and must study the materials, construction, and historical significance of the pieces. Also, they must share this knowledge with the public in accessible and entertaining ways. In recent years, some curators have used new technologies such as modeling software and digital displays to study and exhibit their collections. This has allowed curators to bring costumes to life in ways that were 35 previously and formerly impossible.

One of the first costume exhibits to benefit 36 from these technological developments was the 2014 Charles James: Beyond Fashion show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met). Early in their preparations, Met curators Harold Koda and Jan Glier Reeder drew on new technologies to 37 reach people who could not visit the exhibit in person. James, one of the most respected clothing designers of the twentieth century, created sculptural dresses using many layers of unconventional materials. The curators used X-rays and computer models to study the layers of mesh, feathers, cotton, and horsehair that 38 makes up James’s “Clover Leaf” gown, which would be one of the centerpieces of their show.

Having come to a fuller understanding of James’s work, 39 how to present it in the best way to museum visitors was what the curators had to determine. James’s dresses presented the curators with one of their most common professional challenges: 40 marketing the exhibit to increase museum admissions. Clothing in museums would quickly fall apart if it were handled frequently, but traditional displays of costumes on mannequins make it difficult for visitors to 41 see how a piece is constructed. Koda and Reeder solved this dilemma by designing computer animations that showed visitors the separate pieces that make up dresses such as the “Clover Leaf” gown, the way these pieces fit together, and the ways the finished dresses fit when they are worn. By doing so, the curators could give museumgoers a sense of their own excitement at being able to see inside James’s designs. 42

According to Valerie Steele, chief curator of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, a costume curator’s 43 job is to, “tell the story of the meaning of the clothes.” New technologies have allowed costume curators to tell their stories in more compelling ways, 44 and other exhibit teams at the Met would do well to imitate the costume curators’ approach.

Which choice most effectively combines the sentences at the underlined portion?

5439817)

Questions 12-22 are based on the following passage.

Not-So-Ancient Poetry

In the late 1700s, readers across Europe 12 got a big kick out of a series of poems purportedly written by Ossian, a legendary Scottish poet and storyteller from the third century. 13 Ossian was said to have worked in the oral rather than the written tradition, and the French general Napoleon Bonaparte so admired the poems 14 to where he commissioned two paintings of Ossian to be hung in his summer palace. There was just one problem: the poems were largely the invention of their so-called translator, James Macpherson.

Macpherson was a Scottish 15 Highlander who grew up listening to songs and stories in the Gaelic language. When he began his career as a schoolteacher in Ruthven, Scotland, he set about collecting the tales and ballads of the region. A friend persuaded him to translate the Gaelic poem “The Death of Oscar” into English, and in 1760 Macpherson published his translation, along with translations of several other poems, in a volume entitled Fragments of Ancient Poetry.

The Fragments immediately captured the public’s imagination. Equally captivating was Macpherson’s hint in the preface that an epic poem (a poem chronicling heroic deeds of great significance to a culture) might be recovered through further study of ancient manuscripts and oral traditions in the Highlands. Excited patrons provided Macpherson with funds to undertake a research 16 trip, they were not disappointed. 17 In spite of their contributions, Macpherson published two epic poems, Fingal and Temora, which recounted the feats of ancient Gaelic warriors. Macpherson claimed that the poems had been written by Ossian.

18 The influential English author Samuel Johnson demanded to see the original 19 manuscripts, that Macpherson had translated. When Macpherson refused, Johnson accused him of fraud and undertook a trip to Scotland to debunk Macpherson’s claims. Johnson provided a formal account of his suspicions in his 1775 travel book, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland.

The public remained divided between those who believed in the poems’ authenticity and those who agreed with Johnson that the poems were a hoax. 20 Today it is believed that Macpherson created the Ossian texts by combining poetry and stories he had heard on his travels with 21 invented material of his own invention. Having set out to find an epic poet in the Highlands, he created one by attributing these amalgamated works to the mythic Ossian. Although many modern critics do not share Johnson’s hostility toward Macpherson, Johnson was ultimately correct in thinking that poems such as Fingal and Temora are better understood as the work of an eighteenth-century poet 22 than as a third-century one.