When Discussing Civil War-Era Narratives, Critics Almost Invariably GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

When discussing Civil War-era narratives, critics almost invariably refer to slave narratives published before 1865. However, many ex-slaves wrote about their return to the South after the war, and about reunions with their former masters. These significant postbellum narratives have been largely ignored.

What is perhaps most striking about many of these narratives is the incidence of emotionally charged reunions between the protagonists and their former “owners.” In many instances, long-standing class differences were surprisingly bridged, and reconciliation occurred between black and white. One of the most important of such accounts was written by Frederick Douglass himself.

The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass contains what is probably the most famous scene of reconciliation in postbellum narrative. In the summer of 1877, Douglass returned to Talbot County hoping to see his former master, Thomas Auld. Auld, by then more than eighty years old, was much weaker than the young man that Douglass—now an international celebrity—had hated and feared. Believing it unseemly to speak words of bitterness and reproach to a man so close to death, Douglass made an effort to make peace with Auld. “After all,” said Douglass, “I regarded both of us as victims of the system.”

This idea of mutual victimization was certainly not something Douglass had argued in his previous autobiographical accounts of slavery. Nevertheless, like many slave narrators in the postbellum era, he was not averse to showing slavery’s harmful effects on whites as well as blacks. In the end, Douglass’s reunion with Auld is described as joyful.

Accounts such as the one written by Douglass were often criticized or condemned by other opponents of slavery. To some, including many modern observers, the narrative appeared to undermine the long-standing abolitionist scorn for the patriarchal justification of slavery. Moreover, one of the chief results of antebellum slave narratives was that the sentimental image of the relationship between slave and master was discredited. But Douglass rejected such attacks on personal, cultural, and political grounds. He believed that his narrative was not one of weakness but strength, the strength to hold on to the past despite its painful associations.

“When discussing Civil War-era narratives, critics almost invariably refer to slave narratives”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 5 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

Question 1
The primary purpose of the passage is to

1. compare examples of a genre
2. critique alternative literary approaches to an issue
3. refute criticism of an established work
4. promote a previously neglected group of works
5. present evidence for a literary theory

Question 2
With which of the following statements regarding postbellum narratives would the author be most likely to agree?

1. While postbellum narratives often describe emotional reunions between blacks and whites, these accounts do not necessarily indicate forgiveness on the part of the former slaves.
2. Critics of postbellum narratives are well justified in condemning these accounts for downplaying the horrors of slavery.
3. The idea of mutual victimization by slavery is the only explanation for the willingness of former slaves to meet with their former masters.
4. Critics who refer only to antebellum slave narratives are unaware of the many extant postbellum narratives.
5. Scenes of reconciliation between ex-slaves and their former masters are marked by a reluctance on both parts to confront longstanding class differences

Question 3
According to the passage, which of the following is true of the publication of antebellum slave narratives?

1. The writers of the narratives found the strength to confront their pasts.
2. They represented a continuation of the tendency of slaves to write autobiographical works.
3. They caused some readers to attack the abolitionist movement.
4. The narratives were, for the most part, ignored.
5. The narratives demonstrated that the romanticized picture of the relationship between masters and slaves master was not accurate.

Question 4
It can be inferred from the passage that antebellum slave narratives

1. were criticized by many proponents of abolition
2. provide greater insight into the plight of masters than do postbellum slave narratives
3. offer few references to positive relationships between slave and slaveowner
4. earned their authors significant monetary rewards due to their popularity
5. were popular with readers and thus obtained an important place in American literary tradition

Question 5
According to the author, Douglass's reunion with Auld was not confrontational largely because Douglass

1. had previously argued that slavery was hard on slave owners as well
2. felt Auld was too advanced in years to change his attitudes and thus any hostility at that point would have been pointless
3. had developed a certain amount of sympathy for Auld's plight
4. typically refrained from voicing any negative opinions about his view of slavery
5. did not want to risk his reputation by instigating a confrontation with so aged a man

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