It can be inferred from the passage that the author's view of Watteau's works differs most significantly from that of...
mmbillingsleyOctober 27, 2017
Please Explain
I do not understand how the answer is C. In lines 36-37 it describes how most admirers ignored the grim background his work. Then the author goes on to discuss how suspiciously psychic the admirers considered Watteau in line 59. So to me this means the author wants admirers to pay attention to the backgrounds of his work which do accurately reflect social reality. What am I thinking of wrong? Can you please explain?
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The question asks, "It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s view of Watteau’s works differs most significantly from that of most late-nineteenth-century Watteau admirers in which one of the following ways?"
We're looking to figure out how the author's view of the works of Watteau is different from the views that are held by Watteau's admirers. We know from the passage that Watteau's admirers found his works "lyrical and charming" (line 38) and also believed that his presentation of 18th-century France was genuine (lines 1-7). Although we don't know whether or not the passage's author found Watteau's works to be as lyrical and charming as the admirers, we definitely know that the author didn't agree with Watteau's admirers in the sense that he didn't think that Watteau's depiction of France was genuine. The author makes the claim that contrary to Watteau's depiction, France was full of war and was very grim in the 18th century, which is a stark contrast to the witty and amiable portrayal of France that Watteau provides in lines 24-27. Thus, the primary difference between the author and Watteau's admirers is that the author doesn't think that Watteau's works provide an accurate portrayal of social reality. This is precisely what (C) says, so it's the correct answer.
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