sat suite question viewer
The following text is from Virginia Woolf’s 1919 novel Night and Day. The text describes a gathering of young artists and intellectuals.
One person after another rose, and, as with an ill-balanced axe, attempted to hew out his conception of art a little more clearly, and sat down with the feeling that, for some reason which he could not grasp, his strokes had gone awry. As they sat down they turned almost invariably to the person sitting next them, and rectified and continued what they had just said in public.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portions in the text as a whole?
Explanation
Choice D is the best answer because it most accurately describes the function of the underlined portions in the text as a whole. The underlined portions describe the young artists and intellectuals at the gathering as trying to "hew out," or give shape to, their views of art more clearly, but with each seeming to be using "an ill-balanced axe" and then feeling that the "strokes had gone awry." In context, the metaphorical language comparing attempts to refine concepts of art to imprecisely cutting wood with an inadequate axe serves to emphasize how much the individuals at the gathering struggled to articulate, or express, their thoughts; indeed, the text explains that the individuals couldn’t quite grasp why their statements had gone awry and tended to try to rectify, or correct, them in continued discussion after they sat down.
Choice A is incorrect because the underlined portions characterize aspects of the young artists and intellectuals’ attempts to present their general views of art more clearly, not their views of the reputation of a certain artwork; the text never mentions any specific artwork or its reputation. Choice B is incorrect. Although the underlined portions refer to a physical activity—cutting wood with an axe—the descriptions are metaphorical rather than literal. The text isn’t describing people constructing works of art, large-scale or otherwise; rather, it’s describing people talking at a gathering, using the idea of imprecisely cutting wood with an inadequate axe to suggest that each individual struggled when trying to present their view of art more clearly. Choice C is incorrect. Although the underlined portions do provide a reason for the young artists and intellectuals’ discontent, the text focuses on the fact that they were each dissatisfied with their own statements, not on how they felt about the group’s full conversation about art. Instead, the text explains that each individual tried to present their view of art more clearly but struggled (as if imprecisely cutting wood with an inadequate axe), couldn’t grasp what went awry, and then felt the need to rectify, or correct, what they had just said. It’s possible that the individuals were also discontented with the group’s conversation overall, but neither the underlined portions nor the text as a whole suggest that.